Fashion designer Alexander McQueen left £50,000 of his £16 million fortune for his beloved pet dogs, his will revealed.

McQueen, 40, bequeathed another £50,000 to each of his two housekeepers, one of whom found him hanged in a wardrobe in his Mayfair flat nearly 18 months ago.

But he left most of his money to his favourite charities, including Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in south London and the London Buddhist Centre.

McQueen left £16,036,500 when he hanged himself after taking a cocktail of cocaine, sleeping pills and tranquillisers on February 11 last year, the day before his mother Joyce's funeral.

The designer's will includes provision for £50,000 to be put into a trust for the upkeep of his dogs for the rest of their lives.

He also left £50,000 to his housekeepers, Marlene and Cesar Garcia, for their "long and faithful service". Mr Garcia made the grim discovery of McQueen's body.

McQueen also bequeathed £50,000 to his godson and each of his nieces and nephews, and £250,000 to each of his three sisters and two brothers.

Four charities - The Terrence Higgins Trust, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, the London Buddhist Centre and the Blue Cross animal welfare charity based in Burford, Oxfordshire - have received £100,000 each.

The designer left the remainder of his estate in a trust for his Sarabande charity, which shares a name with his spring/summer 2007 collection famous for including a dress adorned with fresh flowers.

He asked the charity to consider using this money to fund bursaries or grants for students at Central St Martin's College of Art and Design in London, where he studied fashion.