Arson mansion: search for family

Police are hoping to gain access to a Shropshire mansion gutted in an arson attack, to search for a millionaire, his wife and their daughter. Christopher Foster, his wife Jill and their 15-year-old daughter Kirstie have not been seen since the fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning, and the house has not yet been safe to search. The carcasses of some of the family's horses were earlier found in the remains of one of the outhouses of Osbaston House, near Oswestry.

The three-storey house on the Welsh borders, and several of its outhouses, were all burning when firefighters arrived and there were unconfirmed reports that a horsebox had been left blocking the gates to the mansion, with its tyres slashed, to hamper their entry.

Foster, 50, is a well-known local figure, said to have been a multi-millionaire before he was 30. He drives two Porsches and an Aston Martin, and edcuated his daughter privately. However, one of his main companies was placed in liquidation last year.