A SET of whalebones began the first leg of a 4,500-mile journey yesterday - after Alaskan Eskimos responded to an appeal to save one of the region's most famous landmarks.

The pair of 15ft bones will cross the Atlantic Ocean on a jumbo jet before being transported to Whitby, North Yorkshire, to replace the decaying set which has stood in the town for years.

Whalebones have long been a prominent and resplendent feature of the West Cliff, marking the days when Captain William Scoresby and his son would hunt for whales from the town.

But the ravages of time had caught up with the present-day landmark, prompting civic leaders to issue a plea for help to Whitby's twin towns and cities in the Falklands and Alaska.

And now, after months of fruitless efforts, an unlikely saviour has emerged in the shape of the indigenous Eskimos of North Slope Borough, on the coast of Alaska.

Anchor Sister Cities Commission contacted Scarborough Borough Council with the news that a pair of bones, weighing about 250lbs, had been discovered at North Slope Borough.

The bowhead whale had been killed five years ago by the Eskimos, known as Inupiats, who legitimately hunt whales for their own subsistence. The bones' owner, Inupiat Don Nungasak, agreed to donate them to local authorities in North Slope to aid the international rescue mission.

The bones are on their way to the region after a lengthy battle against red tape was finally won. A host of permits and the intervention of a US senator was needed for the bones of an endangered species to cross international boundaries.

Their journey to Whitby started yesterday when they were flown to Anchorage by Air Cargo Express.

Alaskan Airlines will fly them on to Seattle today, where they will be inspected by the US Fish and Wildlife Service before leaving American soil.

They are then due to be flown from Seattle to Prestwick by Cargolux International Airlines and, once they have touched down in Britain, arrangements will be made to transfer them to the Yorkshire coast.

Borough council leader Eileen Bosomworth said: "The old whalebones have stood as a great landmark in Whitby for many years but have reached the end of their life.

"We are extremely grateful to the people of North Slope Borough, Alaska, and of Anchorage, for finding these bones for us and to all those who are helping to bring them to Whitby at no cost to this borough."

Weather permitting, it is hoped the bones will be in Whitby within the next two weeks and should be installed by mid-April.