A Sussex pilot has died in a helicopter crash as he flew back from the Champions League semi-final match in Liverpool.

Stephen Holdich, 49, from Chidham, near Chichester, was flying millionaire Phillip Carter, an honorary Chelsea FC vice president, and the businessman's teenage son, Andrew, home when his Twin Squirrel helicopter came down early yesterday morning in Wansford, Cambridgeshire.

Mr Carter's friend Jonathan Walker, a 42-year-old debt collector, also died in the crash.

The aircraft - call sign G-BYPA - disappeared from radar screens just after midnight after taking off from John Lennon Airport in Liverpool.

Search helicopters from RAF Wittering spent the morning scouring land near Wansford, including forests, farmland, quarries and a landfill site.

The wreckage was found in woodland near the village and investigators from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch spent yesterday at the scene.

It is thought the helicopter may have been heading for a cricket field landing pad at the Haycock Hotel, in Wansford, which is run by Mr Carter's wife, Judith.

Mr Holdich was the co-owner of operating company Atlas Helicopters, in Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire.

Jack Irvine, of Atlas Helicopters, said Mr Holdich had 20 years' flying experience and added that staff were 'deeply shocked' at his death.

Mr Holdich, had flown Mr Carter on more than 70 occasions over the past four years, his company said.

A Manchester United fan, cyclist and marathon runner, he had previously worked with Yorkshire Helicopters, Aeromega and Sterling Helicopters.

Det Supt John Raine, of Cambridgeshire police, confirmed four bodies were found in the wreckage just ten miles from Mr Carter's home.

The aircraft was found virtually intact at Wansford, near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.

The bodies were taken to a hospital in Cambridgeshire yesterday afternoon where they were formally identified before a post-mortem examination was carried out.

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