Experts have managed to control a mysterious mould that threatened to destroy one of the world's most famous cave paintings.

The primitive art of the Lascaux cave in south western France survived untouched for nearly 18,000 years but became extremely vulnerable when the cave mouth was widened in the 1950s to accommodate up to a thousand daily visitors.

Two years ago experts noticed a fungus spreading gradually along the floor, walls and part of the ceiling.

They tackled it with antifungal and antibiotic chemicals, but it was extremely resilient, and only now have scientists stopped it in its tracks.

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BBC Science News