By Caroline Hawley in Cairo

The Egyptian Environment Ministry is preparing to take the organisers of the Dakar-Cairo motor rally to court for damaging a nature reserve it passed through en route to the finish at the pyramids last month.

The chairman of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Ibrahim Abdel Galil, said the ministry was seeking about 5m Egyptian pounds ($1.5m) in damages and unpaid entrance fees to the site. But he told the BBC it was impossible to put a true price on the damage.

The nature reserve of Wadi Rayyan is one of 21 protected areas in Egypt, famous for its fossils and as a nesting ground for birds.

'Official concerns ignored'

When the environment ministry found out that rally organisers planned to pass through it as they raced through Egypt's western desert, officials say they tried to accommodate them.

They say they suggested certain areas within the reserve, where the cars, bikes and contestants would cause least disruption.

But ministry officials say the organisers rode roughshod over their concerns, setting up camp in the most fragile part of the reserve.

They say bulldozers were used to construct tracks to the lakeside site, which is usually only accessible by foot.

The head of the Environmental Affairs Agency says the rally changed the landscape of the area, damaged geological formations and disturbed the birds.

"Our experts have their own techniques for estimating the damage and they did that, but personally speaking, I cannot see a value for the damage, because this area is more than 40 million years old, so it is a huge natural asset," said Mr Abdel Galil.

'Out of proportion'

But the Egyptian organiser of the rally, Rami Siag, told the BBC the controversy had been blown out of proportion.

He said the government had been informed of the route six months in advance, that the rally took place under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism and that it had only camped, not raced, in the reserve.

A date for the court case has not yet been set.