HAMILTON PALACE WILL BE FINISHED... (we just don't know when!)

In his first interview in 30 years, controversial property developer Nicholas van Hoogstraten reveals the reason for the delay in finishing his enormous £40million stately home in the Sussex countryside... and why he's probably richer than Donald Trump.

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NICHOLAS van Hoogstraten is perched on a windowsill in the reception of the modest hotel he owns in Hove, East Sussex. As we shake hands, I can tell he is distracted, irritated by a memory the heavily-pruned trees outside have stirred.

The bare trunks lining the back fence are the result of an employee trimming the branches a little too enthusiastically; which clearly annoyed Hoogstraten, who planted them to give hotel guests privacy.

"He was sacked on the spot," he says grimly, taking a seat opposite a pool table.

It's impossible to tell if he's joking, but I suspect not.

At a glance, it would be tough to tell the 80-year-old is a man of immense wealth.

Back in his 80s heyday, he was rarely seen out of a double-breasted suit. Today, he's dressed in a grey Karate Dojo gym T-shirt, trousers and trainers.

At the height of his fame - or should that be infamy? Hoogstraten was known as "Britain's most feared landlord". Born into humble origins in Sussex, he started a property business on the profits earned from selling his childhood stamp collection. By his early 20s, he'd built an empire across the South Coast and gained a reputation for being a ruthless operator who acquired homes from people who were unable to pay back his high-interest loans.

So when he stares at me with a steely expression and says he hasn't dealt with the press in three decades, I get a sense of why people were intimidated.