A millionaire entrepreneur says he has no plans to take over Brighton and Hove after he was involved in three major projects which brought him into the public eye.

In the last few months, Mike Holland, 58, has ploughed millions of pounds into the revamp of Brighton's Stanmer Park, the independent Newlands School in Seaford and the British Engineerium in Hove.

He is believed to have invested more than £2 million to keep the school open.

The buy-up of the British Engineerium museum, off Nevill Road in Hove, on Wednesday cost him another £3 million.

The museum's unrivalled collection of steam engines and engineering artefacts, valued by Bonhams at about £1.2 million, was due to be auctioned in 500 individual lots.

But Mr Holland, chairman of Cherrywood Investments, secured an eleventh hour deal to save the museum and keep the collection together.

He said: "This is not a takeover of the city. I hope I don't have to do it any more and other people will do something and stop frittering away money on trivialities.

"People need to focus on the many positives we have in Sussex.

"If I hadn't bought this place it would have closed and the collection would have been scattered to the four corners of the earth.

"I would ask anybody who has any criticism what they have done for the city. It would be nice if more people came forward, not least the local authority and Government bodies.

"At the end of the day, as a local man, you have to live with yourself if you sit back and do nothing. How could I allow this wonderful place to close?

"I want it to become self-funding and something people can enjoy for many more years to come."

The entrepreneur, who won the Contribution To Life In Sussex award in The Argus Achievement Awards last year, plans a £500,000 revamp of the museum, which will then open up for business as usual.

Mr Holland said: "I had to be quick with this deal. I didn't think national treasures closed, I thought they were helped to develop and grow, so I thought it was terrible to let it close."

Founder and director of the British Engineerium, Dr Jonathan Minns, said: "I am full of excitement and anticipation. I am looking forward to sitting down and working out what will be done.

"On the day of the auction, someone came to take away our plaque we received from The Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1997 celebrating the fact we saved it. I couldn't believe they were going to take it back, especially since we designed it!

"Now everything has turned around."