Millionaire falls to his death

A millionaire locked in a bitter planning row plunged 40 feet to his death while investigating a development adjoining his £5million Notting Hill home.

Alastair Villiers, 68, a friend of Annabel Goldsmith and a relative of the Earl of Clarendon, suffered head injuries after falling from the roof of a penthouse flat next to his home.

Mr Villiers, whose first wife Elizabeth Keppel was related to Camilla Parker Bowles and a cousin of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? winner Judith Keppel, had been obsessed with the multi million-pound block of flats for nearly five years.

Police sources initially described his death as an "apparent suicide". But Mr Villiers's family today said they believed he lost his footing while examining a disputed wall dividing his roof and the flats.

The wall had been the focus of a row between Mr Villiers and developers of the flats, designed by international architect John Pawson and built in 2003. The retired investment banker, educated at Ampleforth, had fought to stop the ultra-modern block being built next door. Neighbour Lady Elizabeth Anson, the Queen's cousin, also opposed the development, saying it resembled "a slab of Wall's ice-cream".

Mr Villiers was overruled by planners, but remained opposed to the block and had clashed many times with its developers. A source at the developers said video footage from CCTV had recorded a dispute days earlier.

One family member said: "If it was a suicide, that would be a complete shock. There was no note left and no reason given. It is tragic, but we have no idea what happened."

Police first believed Mr Villiers had jumped from a top-floor ledge at his home in Lansdowne Crescent, but later realised he had fallen from the roof of the nextdoor block after clambering across a treacherous partition wall.

An agent for Octagon, developers of the block where flats sell for £2million, admitted the party wall had been at the centre of a dispute between the firm and Mr Villiers and his wife Lamorna. He said: "There has been a long history of friction between the Villiers and our firm. It is obviously very tragic. However, it seems likely Mr Villiers may have fallen while climbing on the roof of the flats. It seems likely he was up there looking at the roof early on, before anybody was around. There is no railing to prevent anybody falling from that part of the roof."

One neighbour said Mr Villiers felt the building clashed with the 19th-century stucco facade of his house, adding: "Alastair was upset by what had happened to the plot next door. He felt his privacy had been invaded and he resented it."

Today a police spokesman said officers were not ruling out the possibility that Mr Villiers had fallen in an accident. "We are keeping an open mind," he added.