A murder investigation is under way in France after the body of a retired British engineer was found at his home in the Dordogne.

Peter Fuller, 67, who built a golf course by his property when he moved to France, had been beaten over the head repeatedly with a blunt instrument, according to a French state prosecution source.

He had several serious head injuries.

The source said that a 30-year-old Briton who had been working for Mr Fuller as an odd-job man this month had been arrested in London in connection with the killing.

The man, who has not been named, became a suspect after failing to appear at Mr Fuller’s house in Plaisance, near Périgueux, at the weekend.

“He appears to have fled. He is seen as a person of prime importance for this investigation but is not the only line of inquiry,” the source said.

“We have carried out a lot of work at the scene of crime because it’s important not to neglect any line of inquiry and to be careful to check things which seem to be obvious.”

The body of Mr Fuller, who moved to France about five years ago and lived alone, was discovered by his former wife when she went to visit him on Saturday.

French police said that he was discreet, although he was known among the British expatriate community in the Dordogne after creating Les Mirandes Golf and Country Club.

The 18-hole golf course, opened in March 2007, has a clubhouse that serves British meals, including fish and chips.

When Mr Fuller announced plans to work on the golf course, his initiative was hailed by expatriate internet sites. One said that he was an electrical engineer who was completing work on a petrol pipeline across Siberia at the time.

An autopsy on Mr Fuller’s body was carried out in Bordeaux on Saturday. An investigation into his death was opened by the prosecution service in Périgueux.

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