The family placed highest on the list of taxpayers assembled by the newspaper and their wealth was reportedly £6.86bn, a rise of 119% from £5.75bn the previous year.

This has moved the Coates family up from Britain's second-highest taxpayers to the number one rank.

They were far ahead of the family immediately behind them in the list, with Stephen Rubin and family reportedly paying £144m in tax, down from £181.6m the previous year, earned from the sportswear industry.

Leonie Schroder and family were in third, having paid £117m in tax, with a wealth of £4bn.