A civil engineer who has worked on several major Sussex attractions wants to buy the British Engineerium museum.

Jon Orrell, of Hemsley Orrell civil and structural engineers, has made a bid in the past to buy the attraction, which this month shut its doors after 32 years.

Despite careful planning and a year-long assessment, he was not able to clinch the deal.

But since the museum, housed in a Victorian pumphouse off Nevill Road, Hove, went on the market this week, he is considering making another bid.

Mr Orrell's Hove-based firm made its name working on Brighton Marina, Shoreham Harbour and the Palace Pier.

He would keep it as a working museum and also use it as a headquarters for his engineering firm.

Mr Orrell said: "Two years ago I was looking for a home for our business. We had worked with the Engineerium in the past and it is a beautiful site with some great industrial machinery.

"I contacted them and asked if they would be interested in selling part of the site to put in an engineering office next to this engineering heritage and they said they were looking to continue through some engineering capital.

"So I spent a year with architects designing a lovely Scandinavian-looking office to suit the wooded location with a sustainable design.

"We also looked at a plan for keeping the Engineerium going - to have the modern offices, keep the workshops going, to improve the museum and to make a nice visitors and conference centre for events.

"We were thinking of things like bringing an old railway carriage in and making it into a cafe for visitors. It would take several businesses combined to make the Engineerium survive.

"I don't really know why it didn't happen. I can only surmise that it was unable to go through because they were concerned an exclusive sale without going to the open market would fall foul of their charitable status.

"Unfortunately I did not know this would be a problem until I had been working on it for more than a year. Now it is on the market I would really love to get some kind of proposal together.

"I think the main thing is it would be nice to keep part of the building in the public domain and inspire some of the young engineers of the future."

The museum closed after a run of financial difficulties. Its collections and machinery will be sold on site by Bonhams auctioneers on May 10 and the Grade II-listed Victorian buildings where the engines have been displayed are also to be sold.

A statement on the British Engineerium website says: "Sadly after serving the community for some 32 years, the trustees have been unable to raise the funds necessary to continue and most reluctantly closed the museum."

Jonathan Minns, who is an expert in mechanical antiquities, founded the museum in 1974.

In the financial year ending in March 2004 the museum lost about £60,000 and the previous year it lost about £96,000.

The museum contained artifacts including restored Victorian water pumps and boilers, a full-size traction engine and a horsedrawn fire engine. It was also served by a team of highly-skilled engineers.