FOREIGN billionaires flocking to Britain are to be offered their own fortress. A four-tower complex beside Hyde Park, in central London, will not only contain some of the world’s most expensive apartments, costing more than £20m, but is also designed to be impregnable to burglars or assassins.

The security system, created in consultation with former SAS specialists, will feature bullet-proof windows, iris scanners on lifts and entry doors and panic rooms in the larger flats.

Once the flats are built, a security team will oversee the technology and offer an instant response if residents trigger their alarms or panic buttons.

The majority of clients are expected to include Arab princes and new billionaires from India and China who need a pied-à-terre in London.

Another growing market is Russian oligarchs, who this year have bought an estimated 240 homes in London worth on average more than £1m each.

The Richard Rogers Partnership has drawn up designs for the project, named One Hyde Park, which features four diamond-shaped blocks with facades of glass and red weathered steel.

“This is going to be the best and most secure residential building in the world,” said Nick Candy, one of the two brothers who run Candy & Candy, the design company overseeing the project and its interior design. “It is for the über-rich — people who are wealthy on a global scale.”

They have already received expressions of interest for the apartments — a short walk from Harrods department store in Knightsbridge — despite prices of more than £4,000 per sq ft. Such charges are partly a consequence of the shortage of upmarket homes in the capital, a factor that has helped to fuel luxury property inflation of more than 25% in the past year.

Concerns about security have been highlighted by cases such as that of John Monckton, the banker murdered by burglars in his £3m Chelsea townhouse in 2004. “London townhouses that front onto the street are inherently less secure than apartment blocks,” said Candy.

The Knightsbridge development will be on the site of Bowater House, a 1950s office block. The 80-odd flats and penthouses will range from 1,000 sq ft to 20,000 sq ft, with those overlooking Hyde Park commanding the highest prices. The biggest London flats have until now offered no more than 5,000 sq ft.

If the estimates of £4,000 per sq ft are reached, the smallest flat could be priced at about £4m and the largest at more than £20m — and potentially as much as £80m when they are completed in 2009-10.

Some of the flats will command a slightly less prestigious view, overlooking the Harvey Nichols department store. These apartments are expected to fetch as “little” as £2,000 per sq ft.

One of the most important security features will be direct lift access from the heated underground garage to each apartment, enabling residents to avoid the risks associated with parking in streets or using external car parks.

Previous Candy flats have included “intelligent mirrors” in lobby areas, behind which are cameras that can transmit images of visitors to a 50in plasma screen in a resident’s apartment, showing the visitors from all angles.

The obsession with security is apparent in the discreet marketing. No price list has been produced and all inquiries to the sales agents — Knight Frank — are routed via Candy & Candy.

Similarly, access to the website for the development (www.onehydepark.com) is via a password system and users’ movements on the site are tracked.

Although the Bowater site is still undergoing demolition, potential buyers have been offered viewings of a £3m marketing suite — as long as they first provide bank references to prove that they are wealthy enough to buy.

The complex will also have a spa, squash court and private wine-tasting facility.

Candy & Candy is managing the project for Project Grande (Guernsey), an investment consortium that includes Uberior, part of Bank of Scotland Corporate, plus CPC Group. The project also has Middle Eastern backing.

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