Supermodel Elle Macpherson has put her Notting Hill home on the market and is preparing to quit Britain for good.

The 45-year-old catwalk star, below, nicknamed The Body, is to move back to her native Australia after finding the hectic pace of life in London too much of a strain.

"Elle has had enough of living in London," says a friend. "She just finds it too busy. She has decided she wants to move back to Australia for a more simple life."

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Elle Macpherson has plans to leave London behind for the warmer climates of Australia

Elle runs her successful lingerie business, Intimates, from her seven-storey family home – which is worth an estimated £8million.

She has lived in the capital for nearly ten years and shares the house with sons Flynn, nine, and Aurelius Cy, four.

Elle spared no expense to ensure every detail of the property was perfect for her needs. "The wardrobes were specially built to make room for her extra long jeans," adds the friend. "The furniture also has special drawers to display her lingerie. She has spent a fortune making the house bespoke, but has now decided to sell it.

"Estate agents have been round and auctioneers have been in to value all the furniture. It's all happening."

When she bought the house in 2006, Elle was rumoured to have gutted it to add a swimming pool, a gym and, bizarrely, a ballroom. She has always loved the chic area and moved in following her split from businessman and long-term boyfriend Arpad "Arki" Busson in 2005.

Prior to that she and Busson, the father of her sons, rented a palatial home in nearby Sheffield Terrace.

Having earned a £45million fortune from her modelling work and lingerie business, Elle has hinted previously that she might one day consider quitting Britain.

She revealed in a recent magazine interview that she was happiest in her Bahamian holiday home.

"The Bahamas mirror what I imagine my life in Australia would be like," she said. "I wake up and go for a surf. I'm an earth mother, 100 per cent there for my kids, and there's no work."

A spokesperson for Elle said of her planned move: "We can't comment."