The owners of the home where the Bronte sisters were born are advertising it on the internet after failing to secure a British buyer for the Thornton property.

Both English Heritage and the National Trust turned down the opportunity to buy the property, pictured, and so now the owners are casting their net further to try entice buyers interested in the literary connection.

The cottage in Thornton where sisters Anne, Charlotte and Emily were born is owned by Barbara Whitehead and Bernard Mayston, who open the house to visitors between April and September.

But they want to sell on the house to new owners who will respect its history and preserve it for the future.

They are disappointed that neither English Heritage nor the National Trust, who were approached first, are interested.

The terraced cottage will now be marketed worldwide on the Internet but Mrs Whitehead has stressed that she will only sell to an appropriate buyer who would continue the restoration project in a sympathetic way.

"The buyer has got to be keen on the Brontes," Mrs Whitehead said. "This place needs someone younger and more energetic than us. We want to pass on the baton. But if we can't get the right buyer, we won't part with it."

Mrs Whitehead said the cottage had been partly renovated with more period features like stone flags restored, so it now looks more like it did when the young Bronte sisters lived there.

"There are people who are absolutely mad on the Brontes and we want to give them a chance to show an interest in the place if they wish."

A spokesman for English Heritage said: "We were contacted by Pavilions of Splendour, the agency selling the cottage, to see if we were interested in buying it. The cottage is one of more than 31,000 historic buildings in Yorkshire and is not considered to be 'at risk'.

"English Heritage believes that if a new owner is not able to maintain the cottage as a 'Bronte shrine' it should revert to its original use, which was a home.

"We hope that the historic connection with the Brontes will be respected. The planning process will ensure that the cottage's historic fabric is not altered or damaged in any way."