Family missing after blaze guts mansion

LONDON (Reuters) - A family of three are missing after a fire tore through their Shropshire country mansion in a suspected arson attack, police said on Wednesday.

Detectives hope CCTV footage will offer some clues about the blaze which left much of the property near Oswestry destroyed.

The owners, Christopher Foster and his wife Jillian, and their teenage daughter Kirstie remain unaccounted for.

Media reports said the owner was a millionaire businessman, understood to be the managing director of a company responsible for insulation on oil rigs.

Three horses have been found dead and at least two dogs, believed to have been in kennels, are missing.

The fire was reported at Osbaston House, Maesbrook, at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, but officers have been unable to search the site because of safety concerns.

"An investigation into the fire, which is believed to have been started deliberately, and the whereabouts of the owners has been launched," West Mercia Constabulary said in a statement.

"Officers have not yet been able to enter the property due to the severity of the fire, so have not established whether anybody was inside at the time."

The 1.2 million pound mansion was a converted farmhouse, set back from a remote country lane, media reports said.