The grandson of oil billionaire J. Paul Getty has been found dead in mysterious circumstances at his home in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles.

Andrew Getty (47) was discovered in the bathroom of a gated house in Montcalm Avenue early on Tuesday morning.

Police went there after receiving a call from a woman, reportedly a former girlfriend.

They said she has not been arrested but has been helping with their inquiries.

A coroner said Mr Getty appears to have died from natural causes or an accident, but media reports suggested he had suffered a traumatic injury.

Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Commander Andrew Smith said: "At first glance, it does not appear to be a criminal type of act. But that could change."

It was said that the police were examining medication found at the scene.

Celebrity website TMZ reported Mr Getty and his ex-girlfriend had a difficult relationship and police were called to his home over 30 times, mainly to deal with "domestic disturbances".

He had recently taken out a restraining order against a woman, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Mr Getty was not initially identified by officers but a statement from his parents, Ann and Gordon Getty, appealed for privacy at "this extremely difficult time".

Mr Getty is one of four sons of Gordon Getty, a multi-billionaire and one of the richest men in the US.

His grandfather J. Paul Getty was an industrialist who founded the Getty Oil Company and was an avid collector of art and antiquities.

Another of Mr Getty's grandsons, J. Paul Getty III, lost an ear in a kidnapping in Rome when he was a teenager.

The family apparently stalled on paying a ransom and the kidnappers cut off part of his ear and sent it to a newspaper to prove they were genuine.

Then 16, he was eventually freed after five months in captivity and a payment of US$2.7m. He died in 2011 aged 54.