A 37-year-old man has been charged with murdering Suzy Healey, the daughter of one of Britain's wealthiest men.

Richard George Holtby, 37, from South Cave, East Yorkshire, was arrested in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, earlier this week. He was detained at Bridlington police station overnight and will appear at Beverley Magistrates’ Court later today.

Ms Healey, who was found dead at her home, Ellerker Hall, in Ellerker, East Yorkshire, on Monday morning. She is the daughter of the multi-millionaire Malcolm Healey, who made much of his £750 million fortune when he sold his Hygena kitchen business.

Ms Healey, a divorcee and mother of two daughters aged 17 and 14, lived alone at the hall in the centre of the picturesque village. A post-mortem examination was carried out on her body but police refused to disclose its findings for "operational reasons".

Her father lives on a large estate about 10 miles away. He is known for keeping a low profile and spends a lot of time in the United States.

His brother Eddie Healey, is also a multi-millionaire. Along with another developer, Paul Sykes, he turned a derelict site outside Sheffield into Meadowhall shopping centre. Its £1.17 billion sale in 1999 netted him about £420 million for his stake, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.

Ms Healey, an animal lover, has a stable of animals at her home. Many of the animals were taken in by her after being rescued by the RSPCA.

She had a reputation in the village as an eccentric recluse who rarely ventured from the ten-acre grounds, except to walk her donkeys.

But recently it appeared that she was poised to end her self-imposed isolation. Villagers saw her with a new boyfriend. One local man, Peter Needler, saw them sitting in the park opposite the hall, drinking beer and was pleased because she had "always seemed lonely".

Her family has issued a statement saying how shocked they were about her death and asking for privacy.

It was revealed yesterday that Ms Healey’s first marriage, to Tim Rose, chairman and managing director of Glenrose, a Hull fish merchant, collapsed under the strain of traumas in his family.

The couple married in Barbados in 1988, when 25 friends were flown first-class to the ceremony. They began their married life in a village a few miles from Ellerker.

When her marriage ended in divorce and their daughters went to live with their father, Ms Healey turned her back on the world and devoted her time to developing a nature reserve and animal sanctuary.

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