Millionaire businessman Christopher Foster killed his wife and daughter before setting his country mansion alight and taking his own life, police said yesterday.

They said they were not seeking anyone else in their week-long investigation into the blaze which gutted the family's detached house in Maesbrook, Shropshire.

Mr Foster, his 49-year-old wife Jill and daughter Kirstie, 15, had been missing since a fire tore through Osbaston House early last Tuesday.

The bodies of 50-year-old Foster and his wife were found in the charred ruins of the house on Friday, although Mr Foster's body was not positively identified from dental records till yesterday, police said. The location of a third body, found on Sunday, suggested that it was that of the couple's daughter, although further tests were required for a positive identification.

Police said Jill Foster died from a shotgun wound to the head before the fire was started. Causes of death for her husband and their daughter had yet to be established.

"We believe that Mr Foster killed his wife and daughter before setting the fires which destroyed his home... ," detective superintendent Jon Groves told a briefing.

He said a rifle discovered near the couple's bodies had been positively identified as belonging to Mr Foster.

"We believe Mr Foster took his own life after setting the house alight."

Police said CCTV footage showed a man they strongly believed to be Mr Foster in the grounds of the mansion in the early hours of last Tuesday with what appeared to be a rifle.

It also showed outbuildings going up in flames around the same time and a large horse box being driven down the driveway, blocking the main gates.

"A man, again believed to be Mr Foster, is seen to get out of the vehicle and apparently shoot out two of the tyres," said Mr Groves.

Detectives have said three horses and four dogs were shot before the fire broke out.

Mr Groves said he had decided to release the latest findings in an attempt to end media speculation about the "complex and unusual" case Newspapers said Mr Foster's main company Ulva Ltd, which supplied insulation for oil rigs, went into liquidation last year with debts of nearly £1 million.