A businesswoman plummeted 80ft to her death from an exclusive open air restaurant on the roof of an office building in London

A woman has fallen to her death from the roof terrace of a restaurant in front of shocked City workers.

She was drinking at French restaurant Coq d'Argent in central London on Tuesday night when she is reported to have taken a sip of wine before stepping over the edge of the terrace, plunging approximately 80 feet to the ground.

The woman, believed to have been Asian and in her 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene, a short distance from Bank underground station. Her name has not been released by police.

It is thought to be the third such death in five years.

One businessman who saw the aftermath of the incident outside No1 Poultry, an eight-floor office building in the Square Mile, wrote on Twitter: "My heart has never beat so deep and fast in all my life. People were crying their eyes out. She landed 20 metres in front of me."
Another City worker wrote on Twitter that it was "a horrible thing to see".

David Loewi, managing director of D&D London, which owns the Coq d'Argent, said: "It is a very sad case, but we cannot comment further as a police investigation is under way."

The restaurant, which opened in August 1998, specialises in French cooking and was said to have been busy last night, with dozens of customers present at the time the woman fell.

All areas of the Coq d'Argent, including its terraces and gardens, remained open, a D&D spokeswoman said.

Photos: London Evening Standard