The children of a multimillionaire curry restaurateur have won a ￡4 million inheritance battle after their eldest sibling tried to keep the entire estate.

       Muhammed Iftekhar Khan, 49, insisted he should inherit everything when his father Abdul died in 2008 without leaving a will.

       But a High Court judge has now ruled that the ￡4.6 million south London property portfolio should be shared between all six siblings.

       The elder Mr Khan started as a dishwasher in a West End hotel before carving out a career as a chef and restaurant owner.

       He invested the profits from his restaurant, Clapham Tandoori, on Clapham Common, in four houses in Tooting Bec, Norbury, West Norwood and Upper Norwood.

       When Mr Khan died at the age of 67 in 2008, the properties sparked a bitter inheritance dispute. His five other children brought a High Court case against their brother Muhammed, asking for the estate to be shared between them all.

       During cross-examination, Simon Lane, representing Muhammed Khan, said his client was his parents’ favourite and a key figure in the management of the portfolio.

       But his five siblings – Farhana, 46, Shalima, 45, Jennifer, 44, Ahmed, 43, and Sarwar, 42 – disputed this.

       They argued in court that their father intended “that the beneficial ownership of the properties should be shared between his children” and that a family meeting in 2004 had confirmed this.

       They claimed their father planned for the houses in Tooting Bec, Norbury and West Norwood to be split between his three sons – Muhammed, Ahmed and Sarwar – and for the fourth, in Upper Norwood, to be split equally by his three daughters – Farhana, Shalima and Jennifer.

       After a lengthy trial, Deputy Judge Saira Salimi ruled in favour of the five siblings and said the properties were acquired with the “common intention” that all of Mr Khan’s children should benefit.

       She ruled that the Upper Norwood property was acquired by Mr Khan for the benefit of his daughters and that the three others were for his sons.

       The properties will now be sold and the proceeds shared between the siblings.