Thousands of stuffed and posed kittens, squirrels and rabbits are at the centre of a desperate £2 million fund-raising fight.

The creatures, which date back more than 100 years, are the creation of Walter Potter, taxidermist extraordinaire.

Working from his home in Bramber, near Steyning, where he was born in 1835, he amassed a spectacular collection of 6,000 stuffed and posed animals.

The most elaborate surviving example of a 19th Century craze for taxidermy, his Museum of Curiosities, now held in Cornwall, is being offered at auction later this month and the collection could be broken up.

Bramber residents have launched a last attempt to return the animals to the village but will have to find at least £2 million to buy them.

Peter Thorogood, who owns and lives in St Mary's, a 500-year-old house in Bramber which is open to the public six months a year, has offered land as a site for a museum if funds can be raised.

The writer and musician said: "We would all like to get the collection back to Bramber.

"It would take lottery money or a rich benefactor but I'm offering land, which would be one of the first hurdles to housing the collection here.

"It may seem an impossible dream but if you don't try you'll never know."

Taxidermist Jeremy Adams, who works at the Booth Museum in Brighton, said: "It would be fantastic to have the collection back in Bramber and a great attraction for the village.

"It is unique and would be very sad to see it split up.

"Around 10,000 pieces are up for auction but only around a third is Potter's original collection.

"Sadly the cost of buying the collection would be just the start. I think it would take between £8 million and £10 million to house and maintain them."

The collection was originally held in Bramber Museum, which was specially built in 1880.

After Mr Potter's death in 1918 the collection passed to his daughter, Minnie Collins, and then to his grandson, Walter Collins, who sold it in 1972.

The animals remained in Sussex until 1984 when, threatened with export to America, the marching band of mice, kitten bridesmaids and colleagues were given refuge in the Jamaica Inn pub on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, owned by John and Wendy Watts.

Mr Watts' son-in-law Kevin Moore, who now runs the pub, said: "We tried so hard to find a sole buyer but despite huge interest there just didn't seem to be anyone prepared to take on the whole lot.

"In an ideal world the collection would remain together in England but sadly this may not be possible.

"After John and Wendy Watts and our curator retired and our taxidermist died of leukaemia, we felt we could not give the collection the specialist care it needs."

The auction is being held by Bonhams on September 23 and 24 at the Jamaica Inn.

It is thought each Potter tableaux will raise between £6,000 and £8,000.

To order a catalogue for the sale, email subscriptions@bonhams.com or telephone 01666 502 200.