Detectives fear a British couple found dead at their home in France could have been murdered by ‘criminals from the United Kingdom’.

The disturbing theory was suggested on Friday after the lifeless bodies of Andrew and Dawn Searle, who were in their 60s, were discovered on Thursday afternoon in Les Pesquiès, south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue. 

Andrew Searle is said to have moved his family to France a decade ago after working as a financial investigator in the ‘fight against organised crime and terrorism’.

On Friday, the couple’s property and surrounding land in the hamlet had been turned into an extensive crime scene.

An investigating source said: ‘A criminal enquiry has been launched and the fear is that the couple were murdered.

‘They were very fit, and very popular locally, but there is a theory that they were being pursued by criminals from the United Kingdom.

‘This is currently the prioritised line of enquiry, because [the husband] was once involved in the fight against organised crime and terrorism.’

It is understood that Mr Searle spent at least 20 years working with the the police and Serious Fraud Office against organised crime groups involved in financial crimes such as money laundering.

This included work in ‘sanctions screening’, which is the process of checking individuals and groups who might be barred from dealing in the UK because of their links with rogue nations, terrorist groups and drugs traffickers.

This would have brought Mr Searle to the notice of networks working across the globe, in countries such as Russia.

Mr Searle retired to France in 2015 from his professional life in Scotland, after working in the financial crime assurance arm of Barclay’s Bank in Edinburgh.

Before this, the Liverpool John Moores University graduate was at Standard Life, which is also based in the Scottish capital.

He maintained a LinkedIn account, in which he wrote: ‘Reponsible for the delivery of significant improvements in AFC [Anti-Financial Crime] capability, developing effective operating models within a Group structure.’

Police and prosecutors have not officially released the Searles names, but at least three neighbours confirmed they were the victims.

One neighbour told MailOnline: ‘[They] were lovely – hearing about this is extremely distressing.

‘They were extremely friendly, and always out and about. What has happened has caused a lot of fear.’

It is thought that the husband and wife were killed inside their detached property, which includes a two-bedroom flat that was regularly occupied by paying visitors.

The Searles advertised their home extensively online. There is a swimming pool outside, and then thick woods which put the house in an isolated position, away from the centre of the hamlet.

While investigators originally feared ‘a burglary gone wrong,’ local officials on Friday suggested there could be other motives.

Jean-Sebastien Orcibal, the Mayor of Villefranche, said: ‘We do not really have burglaries in our town, and especially not violent burglaries.’

Local prosecutors have launched a criminal enquiry, with judicial police and gendarmes are supporting them.

The house and its grounds remained cordoned off on Friday, with forensics officers examining the entire property.

Drones could also be seen circling overhead, while house-to-house enquiries were being carried out by gendarmes.

Nobody has yet been arrested in connection with the deaths.

Villefranche-de-Rouergue is in the Aveyron department – the French version of a county. It is full of British expats, and holiday home owners from the UK.

Another local source said the couple ‘had numerous friends locally and further afield including in Britain, and often organised dinner parties.’

He added: ‘They both loved the countryside, and were very happily settled. They were very proud of their house, which is situated well away from other buildings in the hamlet’. 

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office told MailOnline yesterday: ‘We are supporting the family of a British couple who died in France and are liaising with the Local Authorities.’