Daffodils have sprung to life in Roy Chalmers' suburban garden and the grass is freshly mown.

Behind the net curtains of his empty £260,000 home, the furniture and ornaments are neatly arranged.

The house is typical of the modest semi-detached properties which line Overhill Gardens, a quiet Brighton cul-de-sac where neighbours described the retired businessman as a private, houseproud man.

Mr Chalmers never married and lived in the house with his mother, staying on after her death.

He had regular visitors and occasional lodgers.

The frequency of their visits had increased in recent months after a fall which, combined with a heart condition, left him struggling to walk.

He could barely stumble unaided for 100 yards and would seldom be seen far from his house.

Before he retired, Mr Chalmers was known around Brighton for his blue van with a pair of spectacles painted on the side. He was the victim of a robbery at Brighton station in 1999 when glasses were stolen from his briefcase.

He thrived on his entrepreneurial spirit and once sent a selection of reading glasses to the Queen after she lost her own.

There was concern in the close yesterday for an elderly neighbour who has been missing for several days.

Car sprayer Stephen Waite, 51, fell out with Mr Chalmers over their neighbouring gardens.

Mr Waite apparently did not mow his small front lawn as often as Mr Chalmers would have liked.

He said: "I didn't really get on well with Roy and I haven't spoken to him for a couple of years.

"Roy is quiet but gets on with most of the neighbours.

"He worships his garden. He is a very proud man and very particular. He has got a nice house.

"There was a chap who used to come around every day and take him out in the car. I think he was a DJ.

"There was no talk of Roy being gay but I have never seen a woman go in there and he never seemed to be with women. I just put that down to his age.

"He has lodgers and there is one young chap who has been there for a couple of years.

"I took it they were students. They were young lads who would stay two or three weeks and then leave.

"There were always different blokes going in."

Although Mr Chalmers' disappearance remains a mystery, some neighbours were already assuming the worst and spoke of him in the past tense.

Insurance manager Malcolm Lorimer, 49, lives two doors down.

He said: "We have been neighbours for 35 years but I didn't know him that well.

"He was a very private person. He has always been into his garden and is very proud of his house.

"We are obviously very worried about him and hope he returns safe and well."

Rawad Bastawi, 23, a student, said: "He was a quiet type of person who had his usual routine.

"He always said hello and waved when I saw him but that was it really."

Vivienne Renaut, 45, a personal assistant, said: "It was all go last night.

"There were men in forensic suits going in and out of the house and garden.

"It's very sad to think someone could just go missing and you don't even realise."