IN 1845 shards of tusk and teeth from the straight-tusked elephant, which became extinct between 100,000 and 400,000 years ago, were found in a field where Summerland Street, Barnstaple, now stands.

Some of the remains are in the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon but the teeth were sold on privately.

Now Barnstaple town councillor Simon Harvey wants to reunite the remains for Elephant Day, an event first staged last year to mark the unusual 19th century find.

The teeth are now held at the Natural History Museum in London and Andy Currant, a senior curator in the paleontology department has agreed to bring the elephant teeth to Barnstaple for this year's event which will take place on Saturday, June 20.

Cllr Harvey said: "I thought it would be great if we could reunite the remaining parts of the skeleton for this year's Elephant Day."

As well as the display of bones, Cllr Harvey said there would be plenty to keep people entertained over the course of the day.

He said: "It's going to be even bigger and better than last year.

"There will be stalls as well as a stage where we are hoping to put on a performance of the elephant story by local primary schools."

There will be an open meeting for those who wish to be involved in the Elephant Day on Thursday, February 12, at the Moose Hall on Trinity Street from 7.30pm onwards.

● The straight-tusked elephant (palaeoloxodon antiquus) is closely related to the Asian elephant.

It inhabited Europe during the Middle and Late Pleistocene period. The elephant was 3.70m (12 ft) tall. Its legs were slightly longer than those of modern elephants.

Straight-tusked elephants lived in small herds of about five to 15 individuals. They preferred warm conditions and flourished in the interglacial periods during the Ice Ages, spreading from continental Europe to Great Britain.

It is assumed that they preferred wooded environments. During colder periods the species migrated south. It became extinct in Britain about 115,000 years ago. Eventually it was replaced by the mammoth.