An elderly animal-lover has left more than £100,000 to charities including the RSPB and RSPCA in his will.

Maurice Sparks Coppen left an estate valued at £1,201,734 at his death in May this year, aged 86.

Mr Coppen, originally from Romford, Essex, moved to the Sussex coast about 15 years ago, living alone in a flat on Kings Esplanade, in Hove.

Mr Coppen left most of his estate to relatives but bequeathed the rest to a wide range of charities and several churches.

One family member, who asked not to be named, said Mr Coppen had kept himself to himself but always had great feeling for animals and people.

She said: "He found animals to be company and he related to them, although he didn't have any at his flat. He would like to have kept a bird for company but he didn't like anything to be in cages. He thought they should be free.

"He loved to go for walks in the park to watch the birds and I shall probably remember him best as a kind person who loved birds.

"He was always very fond of animals. He supported the cause of the bears in China but he also cared about people."

The relative said Mr Coppen was in the property business and used to live and work in London.

Mr Coppen left £10,000 each to the RSPCA, the RSPB, Scope, the PDSA, Age Concern England, Oxfam, the British Red Cross, Blue Cross and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Charities to receive £2,500 were Macmillan Cancer Relief, the British Heart Foundation, Mind and the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

Among the churches to benefit from £500 donations were St John the Baptist Church, in Church Road, Hove, and St Margaret's Church in Rottingdean, both of which Mr Coppen used to attend.

Mr Coppen also left £250 to St Francis Veterinary Surgery in Norfolk Square, Brighton, to help distressed pigeons and other birds and the same amount to St Nicholas Church, in Dyke Road, Brighton.