Villagers have begun a campaign to buy the Bronte family’s birthplace and restore it to its former glory.

The modest house in Market Street, Thornton, Bradford, which was formerly the Bronte Birthplace Museum, has recently fallen into disrepair.

Now Bronte fans and residents are getting together to work out a battle plan to try and rescue the building.

They gathered last night at a pub in the village for a second meeting on the issue. Councillor Valerie Binney (Thornton and Allerton, Conservative), one of the driving forces behind the campaign, said the former Bronte home was in the hands of the receiver, according to a notice on its door.

The house was the birthplace of Bronte sisters Emily, Charlotte and Anne, and their brother Branwell. The family lived there for five years from 1815 before moving to Haworth.

More than a decade ago the house was lived in by novelist Barbara Whitehead, who converted it into a museum. But the house was sold after she became ill.

Coun Binney said last night’s meeting was to discuss ways of getting people interested in buying the property.

She said: “We want to raise the money to buy it and bring it back as it should be, the Bronte birthplace for tourists.

“It would be marvellous if we could raise enough money to buy it. It is such a shame it was sold to someone who then rented it out. We are in the early stages of trying to get funding. It’s quite something to have a house where the Brontes were born in the village, and is something worth preserving.”

Michael Stewart, a writer, who lives close to the museum, said: “When Barbara Whitehead ran it as a museum we had coachloads of Japanese, American and European tourists coming to have lunch in the village and the place was booming.

“She restored the house to how it was when the Brontes lived there in 1815.”

Anyone interested in the property can contact Coun Binney on 07730 304349.