AN imposing whalebone arch which welcomes visitors to a picturesque stretch of North Yorkshire coastline is finally set to be reborn.

The famous arch, which has been a gateway to Whitby's waterfront for nearly 40 years after the bones were donated by Norway, has deteriorated over time and needs to be replaced for safety reasons.

The town, famed as the home of master mariner Captain Cook, put out a worldwide appeal for replacement bones in 2000 and its Alaskan twin, Anchorage, came to the rescue after securing a huge pair of bowhead jawbones from Barrow, Alaska.

This was just the beginning of a battle against red tape to get the bones to Whitby. A host of permits were needed to transport the bones of an endangered species across international boundaries.

But after 18 months of tireless work by dozens of volunteers on both sides and the intervention of a United States senator, which resulted in a special law allowing the bones to be shipped being signed by President George W Bush, the bones are due to begin their 7,000-mile journey to Whitby next week.

Each bone is nearly 16-feet long and weighs 250lbs and was taken from a whale caught for subsistence in 1996.

They will be lifted from Barrow to Anchorage by Air Cargo Express, before Alaska Airlines flies them to Seattle. Cargolux International Airlines will then fly them from Seattle to Prestwick, Scotland.

The bones are due to arrive in Prestwick next Tuesday and Scarborough Borough Council will arrange transport from there.

The arch commemorates Captain William Scoresby, a great Arctic navigator and whaler who sailed from Whitby 200 years ago, and his son, who became the first serious scientist of northern whale populations and eventually advocated their conservation.

Updated: 11:27 Tuesday, March 19, 2002