Rare and valuable wallpaper from an historic house could be sold to the United States unless money is found to restore it.

It was uncovered during restoration work at Fife House in Kemp Town, Brighton.

The building, on the corner of Lewes Crescent and Chichester Terrace, is the former residence of the sixth Duke of Devonshire and has played host to kings and queens.

Portions of an ornate wallpaper created by famed royal decorators the Crace family have been discovered in the drawing room. The design had lain hidden under layers of more wallpaper for 100 years.

However, Fife House owners Todd Cooper and Giuseppe Sironi have so far failed in their bid for money to restore the wallpaper and would now rather remove it for display than paper over it again.

Mr Cooper, 38, a New Yorker, said: "The first owner of the house was the sixth Duke of Devonshire. He built the house in the late 1820s and in 1848, he had it redecorated by the Craces.

"Around 1900, the Duke and Duchess of Fife bought the house and it is believed they were responsible for covering the decoration.

"Nobody knew the original decoration was here until we started picking at the other wallpaper."

Mr Cooper said the restoration of the drawing room would cost £80,000 but he said he and Mr Sironi had already invested hundreds of thousands in the property and could not afford it.

He added: "There is a lot of interest in the Craces' work in the United States and a museum could come and take it away."

The couple applied to English Heritage for money towards the project but have so far been refused a grant.