New claims that Lord Lucan spent his last years in India as a hippy named Jungly Barry have been given short shrift by detectives.

Lucan became Britain's most wanted fugitive in the Seventies after vanishing into thin air following the brutal death of his children's nanny.

A new book by a former Scotland Yard investigator, called Dead Lucky, adds an astonishing twist to the mystery of Lucan's lost years.

Author Duncan MacLaughlin unearthed the photograph of bearded Barry, which he believes provides conclusive proof the peer lived until 1996 as a tour guide in Goa.

He believes Barry spoke with a refined accent, hinted he was on the run and was an excellent backgammon player - all adding weight to his theory of the runaway lord.

Lord 'Lucky' Lucan, then 39, disappeared after apparently bludgeoning to death nanny Sandra Rivett on November 7, 1974.

At 11.30pm that evening he arrived at Grants Hill House in Uckfield, the home of his friends Ian and Susan Maxwell-Scott.

According to the Maxwell-Scotts, Lord Lucan said very little, went into a study to write a couple of letters and then left at 1.15am.

His blood-spattered car was found by police in Newhaven a few hours later. Nothing has been heard of him since.

But Mr MacLaughlin's book has reignited the argument about what happened next.

Retired Detective Chief Superintendent Jim Marshall, who led the Sussex end of the hunt for the peer, said he was "hugely sceptical" about the claims.

He said: "There was no DNA on this guy in Goa. I would like more proof before even considering whether it could be Lord Lucan.

"In all my years as the country's longest serving CID chief I have never come across such a mysterious or bizarre disappearance.

"People think he might have gone on to the Sussex Downs and cut his wrists but nothing has ever been found.

"We checked every passenger getting on the Newhaven ferry and if he had assumed another identity, I can't see with all the sophisticated methods around how he would have escaped detection.

"If he was still alive he would have made an attempt to get in touch with his children."

Andy Burrows, 38, who now works as an engineer in Sussex and has a flat near Brighton seafront, spent 12 days living in Jungly Barry's commune in 1992.

He told The Argus he was "absolutely certain" Barry was not the 7th Earl of Lucan.

Mr Burrows said: "There is no way that man was Lord Lucan. He came from Lancashire and talked about his life in the North.

"He did not have a plummy accent and called people 'cock'. The story by this detective does not add up."

Soon after he returned to Brighton from his travels, Mr Burrows saw Barry being interviewed on TV promoting the jungle tours he ran in Goa.

He said: "If this was a man on the run, he would hardly be encouraging people to come out and see him, telling everyone exactly where he would be found."

Retired Detective Superintendent Tim O'Connor, another former officer still living in Brighton and Hove, also described the latest claim as "ludicrous".

He remains convinced a man he met while visiting Perth in Australia 15 years ago was the real Lord Lucan.

However, after an investigation, Australian detectives concluded he was not the missing peer and the case was dropped.

Mr O'Connor said: "Of one thing I am certain - Lord Lucan would not have ended up living as a hippy in the jungle."