A house is likely to be built in the grounds of the Shropshire country home which was believed to be have been destroyed by its debt-ridden owner, it was revealed today. 

Businessman Christopher Foster is believed to have set fire to Osbaston House at Maesbrook, near Oswestry, in August, killing his 49-year-old wife Jill and his 15-year-old daughter Kirstie, before killing himself.

Foster, 50, was heavily in debt and police believe he shot his 49-year-old wife before killing his daughter, a pupil at Ellesmere College, then setting fire to his luxury property and killing himself.

Osbaston House has been taken over by the HSBC bank and today spokesman Tim Pie said the land would eventually go on the market.

He said: “It will be sold eventually but it is not on the market yet. We don’t have any date when the land will be sold.

“It clearly cannot be rebuilt because it was so badly damaged. What remains of the property will be demolished. I would imagine once the land is sold a new property would be constructed on another part of the grounds.”

The exact circumstances surrounding the death of Foster and his family are to be revealed later this week.

Mr John Ellery, mid and north Shropshire coroner, will hold inquests on the businessman, his wife and daughter at Shrewsbury Magistrates Court on Thursday and Friday.

The triple deaths at Osbaston House shocked the quiet Maesbrook community which found itself at the centre of massive media interest in the summer.

The Foster family led a luxurious lifestyle, owning horses and expensive cars and living in a £1.15 million mansion but their lives ended in what police believe was a horrific killing spree.

The family was laid to rest at St John’s Church in Maesbrook in December, four months after the tragic events at Osbaston House.

Schoolfriends of Kirstie Foster recently got together to plant a tree in her memory near to the house at Ellesmere College she would have moved into after completing her GCSEs.

By Iain St John