Tyrannosaurus rex would have been able to outrun the likes of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney, a study suggests.

University of Manchester scientists used a powerful supercomputer to calculate the running speeds of five carnivorous dinosaurs.

The study puts the T. rex at speeds of up to 18mph, fractionally quicker than an average professional footballer.

But the T.rex would have found it difficult to keep up with a top 200m sprinter, who can reach a top speed of around 27mph.

The fastest dinosaur was the bipedal Compsognathus. This species, which was about the size of a chicken, could reach speeds of almost 40mph - that's 5mph faster than the computer's estimate for the fastest living animal on two legs, the ostrich.

Phil Manning: "The figures we have produced are the best estimate to date as to how fast these prehistoric animals could run."

The team - headed by biomechanics expert Bill Sellers and palaeontologist Phil Manning - say the accuracy of their results is due to the computer's ability to use data relating directly to each dinosaur.

"Previous research has relied on data from extant bipedal models to provide clues as to how fast dinosaurs could run," said Dr Sellers, who is based in Manchester's Faculty of Life Sciences.

"Such calculations can accurately predict the top speed of a six-tonne chicken but dinosaurs are not built like chickens and nor do they run like them.

"Our research involved feeding information about the skeletal and muscular structure of the dinosaurs directly into the supercomputer so it could work out how the animals were best able to move."

The study, which Manning says is the most accurate ever produced, is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"The figures we have produced are the best estimate to date as to how fast these prehistoric animals could run," added collaborator Dr Manning, a lecturer in palaeontology in the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences.

"Since the movie Jurassic Park, scientists have questioned the speed of these dinosaurs and some have wondered whether Tyrannosaurus could have run at all.

"Our research, which used the minimum leg-muscle mass T. rex required for movement, suggests that while not incredibly fast, this carnivore was certainly capable of running and would have little difficulty in chasing down footballer David Beckham for instance."