Police are hunting a tuxedo-wearing amateur marksman over the alleged murder of a British pensioner in Thailand.

Officers surrounded the home of Apicha Boonsawat on Friday evening, around 500 metres from where Neil Roger, 70, was shot four times in the back.

The retired civil engineer from Doncaster, West Yorkshire, collapsed on the ground and bled to death. Locals called paramedics who performed CPR but were unable to revive the ex-pat on Thursday night.

Neil's devastated girlfriend Thitipan Kamlas, 38, broke down in tears by Neil's dead body as officers began investigating in Pattaya, around 90 miles from the capital Bangkok.

They finally traced the white Honda Jazz seen on CCTV to the home of Apicha, a gun fanatic who attended nearby shooting clubs and had a collection of deadly weapons

Major General Thirachai Chamnarnmor said a SWAT team of 50 elite commandos surrounded the suspect's home but he had already fled following the shooting.

The police chief said: 'The suspect's house is enclosed on a quiet street, about 500 meters away from the scene of the crime. It was found to be the home of the driver of the same car in the surveillance footage, with a metal roof rack.

'Drones were used for three hours to search surrounding fields.'

An arrest warrant was issued for Apicha for murder and firearms offenses.