Ceramic artists Vicky Lindo and Bill Brookes made the works Despair and Promise for the Bawden and Me exhibition at The Higgins Bedford.

Miss Lindo said: "It's the ultimate for any artists to have your work in public collections, as when we die it will still be there."

Victoria Partridge, The Higgins' keeper of fine and ceramic arts, said: "I'm thrilled that we get to keep them in Bedford forever - it really is huge mews."

Miss Lindo said: "It's incredible - when we made the work we didn't expect that this would be the outcome.

"You make it and hope someone might want to buy it but it's never really the goal.

"It's overwhelming. It's really special because it belongs to everyone and anyone can go and look at it."

The cats were purchased with £4,800 from The Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and £1,200 from The Trustees of The Cecil Higgins Art Gallery.

They were made for the Bawden and Me exhibition, which featured work by 40 artists and creators who were able to access Bawden's extensive archive to create new pieces inspired by his art.

It was one of The Higgins's most successful exhibitions and attracted 36,000 visitors, Mrs. Partridge said.

Miss Lindo said she was immediately drawn to Bawden's tapestry of The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan's Dream.

She said she did not know the story, but listened to the audiobook as they worked, which became "immersive research".

Cats were chosen as the main inspiration as they are her "DNA" and Bawden "was cat mad", she added.

Ms. Partridge said: "When the cats were on display they were universally admired, especially by children, because it's a lovely way of talking about John Bunyan's story through the medium of cats.

"As soon as I saw them, when I opened the box, I knew we had to have them for the collection, because they have such amazing links with Bedford, through the work of nationally acclaimed artists." (BBC/ The Higgins Bedford)