He said: 'My family disagree, but I believe this is in their best interests'

The successful businessman described suicide as his ' least worst option'

A 54-year-old father-of-three with cancer killed himself at a Swiss assisted suicide clinic against the wishes of his wife and children because he believed his death would be in their 'best interests'.

Jeffrey Spector chose to die at Dignitas because he feared a 'timebomb' tumour on his spine would leave him completely paralysed and he did not want to become a burden on his family.

After a final meal with loved-ones on Thursday evening he died in Zurich on Friday afternoon.

Speaking just hours before his death Mr Spector said: 'My family disagree, but I believe this is in their best interests. Friends and most of all my family have urged me not to go through with it.

'Rather than go late I am jumping the gun. I call it the least worst option. What I am doing is in the best long term interests of my family- they disagree with that of course but they do accept I have my own opinion.'

Although his wife and children had hoped to convince him not to go to Switzerland they said last night: 'As a family we supported and respected Jeffrey's decision 100 per cent'.

Poignant: Businessman Jeffrey Spector (front right) shares a final meal in Switzerland with family and friends – including two of his daughters - just hours before he took his own life at a Dignitas assisted suicide clinic

Family portrait: Jeffrey Spector with his wife Elaine and three daughters Keleigh, Courtney, and Camryn. Mr Spector said they urged him not to die but believed it was in their 'best interests'

Mr Spector leaves behind widow, Elaine, 53, and three daughters, Keleigh aged 21, Courtney aged 19 and Camryn aged 15, who said in a statement despite their 'difficult and painful time' they respected his decision.

He died as his youngest daughter is thought to be taking her GCSEs and said: 'I joined Dignitas and put one date off so that my daughter could do her exams. But I was going downhill'.

Lancashire Police said today they will look into circumstances of his death and if he freely went to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to take his own life - but said it was not a criminal investigation.

Assisted suicide is illegal in Britain and anyone helping loved ones to die may face prosecution.

His case has reopened the debate about assisted dying because he chose suicide rather than to live under that constant threat his tumour could leave him paralysed from the neck down at any moment.

Before his death on Friday Mr Spector enjoyed a final meal with his friends and family, who all posed for a photograph to mark the occasion. 16 hours after the photograph was taken he died.

In the hours before he entered the Dignitas clinic he said he was unable to contemplate a future trapped in his own body and dependent on others.

Last night his wife Elaine and their three daughters said they were 'in a state of all-consuming grief', but added: 'As a family we supported and respected Jeffrey's decision 100 per cent.

True love: Mr Spector with his 53-year-old wife Elaine, who said she was 'in a state of all-consuming grief'

Dreams: Mr Spector has a 'Bucket list' before he died, including flying in a Spitfire, pictured

'Jeffrey ended his life with dignity and control which was his overwhelming desire.'

On the day after his death his 19-year-old daughter Courtney wrote on Facebook: 'To all who knew him, my dad sadly passed away on Friday. I love you so much, my best friend forever & always. Rest In Peace Daddy x X Thank you to everyone for the lovely messages.'

Mr Spector's death will inevitably fuel the debate over the right-to-die issue in Britain – particularly as his condition was not believed to be a terminal illness.

The tumour wrapped around his spinal cord could not be removed and threatened to paralyse him from the neck down as it grew, leaving him living as a quadriplegic.

Mr Spector ran several advertising based companies in the seaside town.

DIGNITAS HELPS 273 BRITONS DIE House of death: A Dignitas clinic near Zurich Almost 300 Britons have travelled to Dignitas to end their lives. Britons made up the second highest number of foreigners going to Zurich for assisted suicide between 1998 and 2014, exceeded only by Germans. The organisation said 273 Britons had killed themselves with its help in its first 16 years, compared to 920 Germans and 194 French. Dignitas was founded in 1998 to help people with terminal and incurable illnesses to kill themselves in Switzerland, where assisted suicide is permitted in specific circumstances. 'Patients' must prove they are of sound judgment and be able to administer a lethal dose of a drug themselves. In 2010 the organisation's fees were said to be almost £3,200 for preparations and the assisted suicide, rising to more than £6,500 for those wanting funerals, medical costs and other fees covered. Advertisement

A colleague said: ' We work on Jeffrey would want that-he was a grafter and learned his trade from his father Maurice.'

'He was successful at what he did and had a lovely family we called the Jeffrey's Angels.'

'He tried everything to have the tumour removed - he once went on a Vitamin C only diet as a form of alternative medicine. For all his success nothing worked.'

Mr Spector said he was not frightened of death but found the prospect of permanent paralysis unbearable, and chose suicide rather than live under that constant threat.

In an eloquent and moving final interview from Zurich, he said: ' I wanted control of the final stages of my life. I was a fit and healthy person and my life has been turned upside down. What started as back ache in 2008 soon developed into an illness which led me to having to make this most awful decision. '

He said his family had asked him to reconsider but insisted he believed his decision was 'the least worst option, which is best for my family in the long term'.

He added: ' I am going before my time but I am not scared. The tumour could stabilise but I cannot take that chance.

'Some people will criticise me but do not judge me. Never judge anyone unless you have worn their shoes. '

Assisted suicide is illegal in Britain, although campaigners have proposed a change in the law to allow doctors to prescribe a lethal dose for terminally ill patients with less than six months to live.

Mr Spector, an advertising executive, was diagnosed with the tumour six years ago and was told it was inoperable because of the way it was entwined with his spine. Despite treatment, it continued to grow.

The company director described himself to friends as a 'walking time bomb' and said he lived in fear of waking to find he could no longer move or speak.

He joined Dignitas five years ago as he began to contemplate suicide. Since the organisation was founded in 1998, more than 300 Britons have travelled to the Swiss clinic to die.

Mr Spector was still able to walk and drive but said his condition was worsening and he was losing control of movement in his hands. As the tumour grew it effectively strangled his spinal cord, reducing his brain's ability to send messages to his arms and legs.

Mr Spector said: ' Had it been lower down the spine and I lost the use of my legs I would have been distraught but I could cope. Where it was meant total paralysis from my neck down … If I am paralysed and cannot speak what hope is there – send me to the spirit world.

'I am a proud person – a dignified person, independent and self-motivated … I believe in my human right to dignity.

'I want the ability to have a cup of tea and hold a phone – I want to be able to do those things myself. I believe what I am doing is in the best long-term interests of my family. They disagree with that of course but they do accept I have my own opinion.'

Mr Spector said he had no prospect of recovery, adding: 'I want my family to have a good life. I want them to move forwards.

'If they cared for me and I got better – fine. But I won't.'

Father-of-three: Mr Spector, an advertising executive, was diagnosed with the tumour six years ago and told it was inoperable because of the way it was entwined with his spine. Despite treatment, it continued to grow

Home: The family are coming to terms with Mr Spector's death at their five-bedroom house in Lancashire

The family travelled to Zurich last week. They had commissioned a film-maker to record Mr Spector going about his daily life for two weeks, as a lasting memory for daughters Keleigh, 21, Courtney, 19, and 15-year-old Camryn, who is about to take her GCSEs. The poignant image of the last meal came from the film.

Before his death, Mr Spector also gave a full interview and photographs to their local paper, and the family's lawyer said they were happy for it to be given a wider airing.

It was not clear if all three daughters accompanied Mr Spector to Zurich. The family gathered at their five-bedroom home in Lancashire, last night, where they released a statement.

They said: 'Jeffrey was particularly clear that he did not want to live a life in which he was paralysed and reliant on his family to care for him.

'Earlier this year, Jeffrey's condition deteriorated to such an extent that he believed he would soon be permanently and completely paralysed.

'Whilst this was, of course, a difficult and painful time, as a family we supported and respected Jeffrey's decision 100 per cent.

'Whilst we are now in a state of all-consuming grief and miss Jeffrey very much, we also recognise that he is now at peace.'