Briton ‘on the run’ after his lover’s battered body found in Paris hotel

The 40-year-old Englishman, who has not been named, is believed to be heading towards the French Riviera in his Porsche 911 sports car.

Police said they wanted to speak to him "urgently" after the naked corpse of his 36-year-old lover was found covered in wounds in a bath at the famous Bristol Hotel on the Rue Faubourg Saint- Honoré. Furniture in the room, including the TV, had been smashed to pieces following what looked like a violent argument between the pair.

The woman had described herself as the director of an import-export agency in Warsaw, although she had been spending a lot of time in the French capital and her exact professional status could not be verified.

She had been staying with the man after checking into the hotel alone on Monday. He had told hotel staff that she was an "ex-girlfriend", and that he had arrived from London on Tuesday to see her.

Police at the scene said a hotel cleaner had found the body on Tuesday afternoon, by which time the man had left without checking out. The luxury rooms at the hotel are well sound proofed and there had been no reports of any trouble.

One detective said: "The woman was hit repeatedly, perhaps with a lamp stand or some other blunt tool. Nobody heard any shouts or screams. The room was chaotic. Lots of furniture had been knocked over or smashed, and a curtain had been pulled down. We are trying to establish the exact relationship between the pair. We have heard what they told hotel staff, but their stories cannot be verified."

So-called Palace hotels like the Bristol are regularly used by those working in the thriving Paris vice industry, with prostitutes often charging up to £1000 a night to visit clients in them.

Male clients from all over the world, including Britain, regularly use escort agencies to "book" young women for hotel visits, although detectives have not yet established that the woman's possible murder at the Bristol was related to prostitution.

The hotel is a world famous four star hotel – the maximum awarded in France– which is often used by showbusiness stars and senior politicians.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy regularly holds meetings there, as it is next door to the Elysee Palace and British Embassy. Among the world figures he entertains at the hotel is ex British Prime Minister Tony Blair.