An 81-year-old former Navy officer found dead in a suburban bondage parlour has been described as a "kind, caring, distinguished gentleman."

Paramedics found David Cecil Pelly's body at a house in a quiet street in Portslade, where the attic has been converted into a torture chamber.

Mr Pelly was dressed head-to-toe in rubber.

His widow, Angela, was last night being comforted by relatives as she came to terms with the circumstances of his death.

People in the leafy cul-de-sac where the elderly couple shared a luxury detached home in Fernhurst, near Midhurst, spoke of their shock and sadness.

Mr Pelly had lived in the quiet close for the six years since the house was built and was on good terms with neighbours.

One said: "I believe he served in the Navy for some part of his life and fought in the Second World War. I often used to see him walking up the drive and he would always say hello.

"It was a terrible shock to learn how he had died."

Mr Pelly is believed to have visited the fetish parlour two or three times a year.

Police yesterday confirmed they were not treating his death as suspicious.

People living in St Andrew's Road, Portslade, said the attic room of the terraced house had been converted into a fetish room with clients visiting day and night.

A shuttered window in the loft was left open to signal when the dungeon was open for business.

The owner, a middle-aged woman, has not been seen at the property since Mr Pelly's death on Tuesday.

She raised the alarm at 6pm when she realised he had stopped breathing.

Police have no plans to question her in connection with the death. A post-mortem examination was held yesterday.

Brighton and Hove coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley said it was unlikely an inquest would be held.