The wife of fugitive businessman Peter Rigden feared she was about to die as he tried to demolish their home with a JCB digger.

Gabrielle Rigden says she was bundled into an outside toilet and locked in by her husband as he set about his wrecking spree.

French-born Mrs Rigden, 45, cowered inside as she heard the sound of the digger tearing down part of the couple's £1.2 million mansion in Sandy Lane, Crawley Down.

She said: "I was terrified he was going to kill me. I thought my final hour had come and I was going to die in there."

She said her teenage son and daughter were still at school when Mr Rigden, 64, began the demolition at about 11am on Thursday.

He is thought to have used the bucket of the JCB to rip open the garage and punch a hole through the roof of the five-bedroomed house before allegedly setting fire to outbuildings which were burnt to the ground, leaving a family car a charred shell.

Mrs Rigden crawled through a small window as the flames took hold and fled to a neighbour's house to raise the alarm.

Her husband sped off in a Land Rover and is believed to have taken two shotguns with him. The car was later traced to an address in the Crawley area but he is still missing.

Mrs Rigden and the couple's children were moved to a safehouse by Sussex Police while the search continues.

She said: "At first I thought he would kill himself but he has not been found yet. As time goes on, I am thinking he will not do it and he is still alive."

She spoke to The Argus after returning to the luxury house, which stands in its own wooded grounds off a private road, on Saturday.

Workmen had been called in to make sure the rest of the building was safe and to reinstate the electricity supply which had been severed.

Twice-married Mr Rigden's office supplies firm, Techna Ltd in East Grinstead is understood to have failed in July.

Mrs Rigden refused to discuss reports her husband had snap-ped after she was said to have demanded up to 80 per cent of the value of their property following their divorce.

She said: "A lot of what has been said in the papers is not true."

Mr Rigden's son James, 36, a graphic designer living in Horsham, said: "Dad wouldn't dream of hurting anyone. He locked up my stepmother so she wouldn't get hurt."