Helicopter carrying Chelsea soccer man is missing

LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - A helicopter carrying an honorary vice president of Chelsea football club and three other men went missing in the early hours of Wednesday, British police said.

Phillip Carter, who is also the chief executive of British support services company Carter & Carter Plc took off in the helicopter from Liverpool, northwestern England, late on Tuesday after watching Chelsea play Liverpool.

"Phillip was on a helicopter from Liverpool to back home in Peterborough last night and the helicopter is missing and that is all we know," a company spokesman said.

Police said the helicopter left Liverpool's John Lennon Airport at about 11 p.m. (2200 GMT) on Tuesday and failed to arrive at its destination, a private residence in Thornhaugh, Peterborough, in central England. Contact was lost at about 12.45 a.m. on Wednesday.

"We cannot confirm details of who was on board at this stage," a police spokeswoman said.

Helicopters and police on the ground are searching an area just north of the Cambridgeshire town, she added.

In 1996, the then Vice-Chairman of Chelsea football club, Matthew Harding, died when a helicopter carrying him and four companions back from a football match plunged into farmland and burst into flames.