Virgin boss Richard Branson has backed National Trust plans to buy Bantham beach and the Avon estuary in Devon as the organisation seeks to conserve the area and its local wildlife.

The two offerings are currently up for sale at a cost of £11.5m, with Branson supporting the plans via his blog and social media, having enjoyed trips to the site with his father as a child.

The National Trust has launched a £2.6m appeal to help fund the purchase, with Branson opening the campaign up to his four million followers on Twitter.

If the Trust does acquire the 750-acre estate, which constitutes the beach, estuary and about 20 cottages in Bantham village, it aims to keep access open for visitors to the beach, while seeking to conserve the landscape of the wooded river valley region in the process.

“I have a strong connection to Bantham, having holidayed there as a child. My dad used to take me down there in a little bumpyed-bump car and we would catch sand eels to use as bait to go fishing for bass,” wrote Branson.

“I remember being six-years-old and thinking I had caught my first bass. I was enormously excited, until I noticed the curve of the rod was bending in the opposite direction to the sea. I had caught a seagull! Don’t worry, dad freed it and we let it go. I still love Bantham and have continued to holiday there over the years.

“My daughter, Holly has a number of good friends that live there. It’s a lovely community of people and certainly worthy of National Trust and public interest.”

As it stands, Branson has not made a financial donation to the cause, though a number of initiatives are being thought up by locals to try and help the Trust reach its aims.