Police have arrested a man in connection with the death of a farmer’s wife who collapsed after thieves raided her home for diesel.

Rosemary Dove, 68, ran inside the family home after she and her husband William, 67, returned home from an agricultural show in Scotland to find a man stealing their farm fuel.

When Mr Dove went to confront the intruder, his wife went inside the house to telephone the police and alert relatives on a nearby farm.

A police spokesman said: “Mrs Dove complained of feeling unwell immediately after making the 999 call and collapsed on the floor of her farm. She was later pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.”

Meanwhile her husband, their son, Michael, and other relatives were chasing the intruder's vehicle - a silver Mitsubishi-style pick-up truck - across the fields in their own vehicles.

At one stage the farmer and his family cornered the pick-up truck. Michael Dove, in his mid-40s, got out of his car to approach it, but the truck clipped him and knocked him into a ditch as it tried to escape, police said.

“He was later taken by ambulance to North Tees General Hospital with a double hip fracture and a minor head wound. His injuries are not life-threatening,” said a police spokesman.

The raid at East House Farm in Bishop Middleham, County Durham, comes at a time of record fuel prices, with diesel as much as 1.31p a litre on the forecourts.

Farmers often store large quantities of diesel for use in their tractors and other machinery. It is cheaper because the taxes on it are much lower, but is dyed red to make it harder to substitute for forecourt fuel.

A 21-year-old man was arrested today by detectives investigating the death. The man was held on suspicion of assault, theft, and theft of a motor vehicle.

Durham Police said he was arrested today after a car was stopped on the outskirts of Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

A Durham Police spokesman said: “Early this afternoon a 21-year-old local man was arrested by police after a car was stopped on the outskirts of Coundon.”

“The man is currently being held at Bishop Auckland police station for questioning.”

Police are still appealing for witnesses to the crime and anyone who may have seen the pick-up truck, which had a distinctive amber lighting bar on the roof.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Harker, leading the investigation, said: “At this stage it’s not clear exactly how many people were in the pick-up. We urgently need any help that will lead us to us to those involved in this tragic series of events, which have left the Dove family absolutely devastated.”

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