A SCIENTIFIC genius who helped invent the world's first computer touchscreens caused a unique High Court tug of war over his £2.1m fortune - with a schoolboy geography error.

Brilliant physicist Michael Crowley-Milling played key roles in developing particle acceleration and the technology that paved the way for smartphones and tablets.

But his shaky geography led to an unprecedented legal row over his estate following his death, at the age of 95, in 2012.

Mr Crowley-Milling, who lived in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and also had a home in Switzerland, died childless, leaving behind a fortune mostly made up of £2m he made from selling his vintage Alfa Romeo sports car - a 21st birthday present from his father.

He stipulated in his will that most of his wealth "within the UK" should go to the Royal Society, the world's oldest scientific institution.

But the "highly intelligent" scientist didn't realise that by the time of his death half his fortune - almost £1m - was not in the UK at all, but in bank accounts in Jersey and the Isle of Man.

Although part of the British Isles, they are not part of the United Kingdom, and a legal battle ensued over the offshore £1m, with the descendants of the scientist's brother staking a claim in one corner, and the Royal Society in the other.

However, Mr Justice Nugee has now awarded the money to the society, after finding that Welsh-born Mr Crowley-Milling simply made a common error.

In a will he signed in 2009, Mr Crowley-Milling bought a home for his carer and left £400,000 to his relatives, with the rest of his estate going to the Royal Society.

His brother Denis Crowley-Milling was a celebrated Second World War fighter ace who was best friends with Douglas Bader but when the scientist died his only living relatives were his brother's children and grandchildren.

And the family laid claim to the offshore £1m when the mistake in the will was discovered, arguing that such a brilliant man must have known what he was doing and had clearly wanted the cash to go to them.

They said he had "fallen out" with the Royal Society in his autumn years - but lawyers for the society insisted he must have wanted it to have to have the £1m and had made a simple geographical error.

Mr Justice Nugee said there was evidence that Mr Crowley-Milling had become disgruntled with the society - but upheld the charity's claim to the disputed cash.

He added: "Lawyers may understand perfectly well the technical meaning of the term UK.

"But there is no evidence that laymen - even highly intelligent laymen - would have grasped the difference between the UK, Great Britain and the British Isles.”

The court heard that Mr Crowley-Milling did vital early work on particle acceleration at CERN prior to the building of the Large Hadron Collider. He was also was part of a team that invented what was probably the world’s first capacitative touch screen in the 1970s.