British spy found dead in London flat

The body of the man, in his 30s, was found stuffed into a large sports holdall in the bath of his central London flat.

Officers discovered his mobile phone and several SIM cards laid out nearby when they broke into the top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico.

The alarm was raised by colleagues who contacted the authorities on Monday when they had not seen him for "some time".

It is understood the man was employed as a communications officer at

the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

But he is believed to have been on secondment to the riverside headquarters at MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, about half a mile from the flat.

Public documents revealed that several current and former residents of the freehold block have links to London and Cheltenham.

Police continued to scour the two-floor flat for evidence today and cordons remained in place on the prestigious street where two former home secretaries live.

Ex-Tory leader Michael Howard and Sir Leon Brittan are among a host of politicians and bankers who have homes there, residents said.

Neighbour Laura Houghton said an "extremely friendly" man identifying himself as Gareth lived at the address at the centre of the murder inquiry.

The 30-year-old secretary said: "I have spoken to him only once. I met him in the entrance hall of the set of flats because of a boring plant issue about a year ago.

"He was extremely friendly and had a Welsh accent."

She said the man had an athletic build, and added: "He was not especially tall. He had medium to short brown hair."

Mrs Houghton added: "His windows were always shut and curtains were often closed. I could never tell if anyone was in.

"It was strange that we never saw him come and go. I just assumed he worked away.

"The first I heard of anything happening was when the police knocked on my door and asked me if I had heard anything happening. I told them the walls were so thick that I couldn't hear a thing.

"All they told me was that there had been a serious incident. I'm amazed it's taken this long to all come out."

Eileen Booth, 73, who lives opposite, said detectives told her the murder may have taken place two weeks ago.

She said: "A few years ago, I would definitely have known who it was that had been killed. But nobody knows each other these days.

"Detectives came round and asked for our eye colour and height. They said this probably happened two weeks ago."

Rob Mills, 35, who lives two doors away, said: "We've got two children - it's shocking.

"I'm told the man lived at the top-floor flat but we haven't ever seen him. It's not like you'd tell your neighbours if you were a spy."

Jason Hollands, 41, a City worker, who also lives nearby, said: "It's truly gruesome - this is a very mixed area of bankers and politicians.

I've spoken to the next-door neighbour, who knew nothing."

Scotland Yard has launched a murder investigation, led by detectives from its Homicide and Serious Crime Command wing.

A spokesman said the body was yet to be formally identified and a post-mortem examination would take place later today.

He said investigators were following up "several lines of inquiry" but declined to confirm the occupation of the dead man.