A British businessman who was killed in a seaplane crash with his family has left a reported £41m to the charity Oxfam.

The aid organisation said it was "extremely grateful" for the bequest from Richard Cousins, who died alongside his fiancee, his two sons and her daughter near Sydney on New Year's Eve.

The sum will be a welcome boost to the charity after thousands of people stopped donating money earlier this year in the wake of the Haiti sex scandal.

Oxfam said it was unable to confirm the amount of money donated by Mr Cousins - who was chief executive of catering giant Compass - but The Sun newspaper reported it to be £41m.

Image: Mr Cousins and his family died after a Sydney Seaplanes aircraft crashed

An Oxfam spokesman told Sky News: "We are extremely grateful for this bequest of which we have only recently been notified.


"We are working with the family and our board of trustees to identify how the money will be used."

In its last annual report for 2016-17, Oxfam reportedly received £19.8m in gifts left to it through wills.

Mr Cousins, 58, his fiancee, former OK! Magazine arts editor Emma Bowden, 48, his sons William and Edward, 25 and 23 respectively, and her 11-year-old daughter Heather died when their seaplane plunged into Jerusalem Bay, 30 miles north of Sydney.

Image: (clockwise from top left) Mr Cousins, Will Cousins, Heather Bowden, Emma Bowden and Ed Cousins

Australian pilot Gareth Morgan, an employee of Sydney Seaplanes, was also killed.

An official report into the crash found the aircraft was "away from the expected and standard flight path" and had taken a "totally inexplicable" turn shortly before it came down.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said there was no evidence to suggest the crash was deliberate.

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A year before the incident, Mr Cousins had added a "common tragedy clause" to his will so that his fortune would go to Oxfam if he and his family died at the same time, according to The Sun.

All but £3m of his fortune will now go to the charity, with his brothers Simon and Andrew both getting £1m, the newspaper reported.

Earlier this year, Oxfam was hit by allegations senior staff used prostitutes while part of an international response to Haiti's devastating earthquake in 2010.

The charity's GB chief executive Mark Goldring told MPs in February that about 7,000 people had cancelled regular donations over a 10-day period and corporate sponsors were "reserving judgment".