The death of Rolling Stone Brian Jones is being reinvestigated by police - 40 years after his body was found in a swimming pool.

New evidence has been unearthed which may back up the theory that Jones, a founder member of the Stones in 1962, was murdered by his builder at his luxury Sussex mansion.

Now detectives are to trawl through documents handed over by an investigative journalist in case they highlight evidence which could prove the musician was killed.

For the past four decades it has been believed that Jones drowned, aged 27, after a party in Cotchford Farm, Hartfield, on July 2 1969 after a drink and drug binge.

An inquest recorded a verdict of death by misadventure even though a postmortem showed there were no illegal drugs in the star's body and only the equivalent amount of alcohol as three and a half pints of beer.

Journalist Scott Jones, who is not related to the musician, has spent four years conducting his own investigation into the death.

He has now met with senior Sussex Police officers and handed over 600 documents including a testimony from a witness at the house on the night Jones died.

The detectives will also study previously unseen files released by the Public Records Office.

It marks a U-turn by the police force which until now has rejected requests to reopen the case and insisted Jones had simply drowned, despite his girlfriend insisting he was a proficient swimmer.

Last November nurse Janet Lawson, who found Jones's body, said she saw the musician’s builder, Frank Thorogood, jump into the pool with Jones and say she was convinced he had killed him.

Her claims are supported by PC Albert Evans, the first officer on the scene, who spoke to all the revellers at the party and drew the conclusion Jones died as a result of a fight with Thorogood.

The belief that Jones was murdered by Thorogood was the theme of the 2005 film Stoned.

Jones initially employed Thorogood as a builder at the luxury farmhouse which was previously the home of Winnie The Pooh author A.A Milne.

But Jones became increasingly angry with how long it was taking him to finish work and believed he was trying to take advantage of his celebrity lifestyle.

It is believed he invited Thorogood to the party on the night of his death to clear the air.

At the time Sussex Police did not treat the death as murder and Thorogood died in 1994.

But new evidence shows that during the original investigation three witnesses were allowed to leave without being interviewed.

Police files also reveal that Joan Fitzsimons, a former girlfriend of Thorogood, was attacked and left for dead three weeks after Jones died.

According to official records the attack happened after she announced she was going to speak to the media about what happened that night. She never did speak to the press and died in 2002.