An auction house has withdrawn the sale of a Nazi war criminal's surgeon's set after receiving a deluge of threats.

The sinister instruments belonged to Anton Burger, a major in the Nazi SS and the commandant of the Theresienstadt concentration camp between 1933 and 1944.

They were due to go under the hammer tomorrow at Villa Hall Auctions in Bude, North Cornwall.

But the lot has been withdrawn after staff received a number of threatening emails and phone calls.

Grace Cloke, partner at the auctioneers, said: "We had quite a few phone calls and emails that weren't particularly nice. Some were pretty threatening and the police were concerned that an activist group might turn up.

"Some of the contact was from people who had lost family members during the war and were not happy with the auction, but there were a few that were really unpleasant. One said: 'I hope you die of cancer.'

"We had to think of the safety of our staff and of the public. It is a shame as the vendor was going to donate the money to the War Child charity."

Mrs Cloke said the police had been "monitoring" the premises and may attend on Saturday in the event of any disturbances.

Devon and Cornwall Police said it was the decision of the auction house to withdraw the lot and could not comment further.

Burger's instruments were being sold with a guide price of £2,000 by a private vendor who wished to remain anonymous.

Mrs Cloke said the late husband of the vendor was Jewish, and his parents met and married at a concentration camp in Austria.

They had hoped the surgeon's set would be bought by a museum or organisation to be used in an educational setting.

After the war, Burger was sentenced to death for his war crimes but went into hiding under an assumed name. His real identity was not discovered until 1994, three years after his death.

Mrs Cloke said: "None of us felt particularly comfortable about the sale, but the money was going to a good cause."