The body of a man found in Claygate on Sunday afternoon has now been formally identified as that of 61-year-old Richard Challen.

Mr Challen, who owned Westlake Garages in Richmond befoe he retired, was found dead in his house in Ruxley Ridge by Surrey Police officers just after 1pm.

A postmortem examination revealed yesterday he died from a severe blunt force trauma to the head.

His estranged wife Sally Challen, 56, who lived in Ashton Place, Claygate, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is still being questioned by police.

Mrs Challen, a Police Federation support worker, drove 70 miles from Claygate to the well known suicide spot Beachy Head, in East Sussex, some time on Sunday after her husband’s death.

Police officers were alerted to her whereabouts by her cousin Noel Anderson, to whom she made a desperate call during the journey.

Her car was found parked nearby and, after a three-hour stand off, Sussex Police officers and chaplains persuaded her to come down off the cliff at 4pm.

A resident in Ruxley Ridge, who lived opposite Mr Challen, said the couple, who have two sons in their 20s, were going through a divorce and she had moved out of the house about six months previously.

She said: “The police wouldn’t tell us anything, but people in white suits like those on Silent Witness appeared, so we assumed they had found a body.

“It’s been a shock. They broke up at the end of last year, but I think she was looking to getting back together again. He was up to some extra-curricular activity."

Customers at the nearby Griffin pub, where Mrs Challen would sometimes drink, also responded with shock to the news on Sunday evening.

The family of Mr Challen today released a statement saying the past few days had been an "incredibly difficult time".

It said: "We would like to thank the family and friends who have come forward and offered their support over the last few days. We would ask that we are now left in private as we try to deal with what has happened."