A MILLIONAIRE businessman and his foreman have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence after a carpenter fell 20ft from a building site and later died in hospital.

Developer Mike Holland, owner of Hove-based Cherrywood Investments, has been questioned by officers over the death of Dave Clark, who fell at Stanmer Park on September 30.

Emergency services battled to save the 55-year-old man from Hove after he was injured at a stable block next to Stanmer House.

Mr Clark was airlifted to St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London, from the park in Brighton in a critical condition and died a month later.

Mr Holland’s site foreman, Grant Oakes, 44, from Hove, has also been quizzed over the death. Both men have been released on bail until next month.

Tributes poured in for the well-known builder, who was sub-contracted by Mr Holland’s company.

When contacted by The Argus yesterday, 67-year-old Mr Holland, also proprietor of The British Engineerium museum in The Droveway, Hove, said everyone at the company was devastated by the accident.

He said: “We are working with the police and the health and safety executive to help them with their investigation.”

After securing the 18th century manor house, Stanmer House, adjacent to the construction site, on a long-term lease from the council in 2004, he spent £5 million transforming it into a restaurant and wedding venue.

Planning permission to convert the buildings into seven two-bedroom houses and one two-bedroom flat was granted by Brighton and Hove City Council in January last year.

Mr Holland, who once appeared on the TV programme Secret Millionaire, also has plans to convert Brighton’s Astoria cinema into offices and once proposed a £25 million scheme to restore the West Pier.

A police spokeswoman said: “A 67-year-old man from Brighton has been questioned and released on bail until 28 March and a 44-year-old man from Hove has been questioned and released on bail until 30 March.

“The incident is the subject of a joint investigation by Sussex Police and the Health and Safety Executive.”