Mr Rausing's fortune came from milk packaging

The list, published on Sunday, shows Mr Rausing, who lives in Wadhurst in East Sussex, having a personal fortune of �4.8bn.

It makes him second only to the Duke of Westminster, who has a fortune of �4.9bn, and establishes him as the 38th richest person in the world.

Mr Rausing, 77, made his fortune from the Tetra Laval milk carton, patented by his father Ruben in the 1960s and which allows milk to be kept fresh without refrigeration.

Richest in 2000

He moved to Britain from his native Sweden in the 1980s and has settled in East Sussex.

The Sunday Times reports he sold his stake in Tetra Laval in 1995 for about �4.4bn to his late brother Gad, and now has a 57% stake in biodegradable packaging firm Ecolean.

The newspaper's figure for his personal fortune shows a �300m increase since last year, when he again made second place in the league table.

He was the top of the list in 2000.

The south east of England proves to be the richest region in the UK by some distance in the list, with 469 of the top 1,000 either living in or having a business based in the area.

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, who has a home in Peasmarsh in East Sussex, is ranked the UK's richest musician, with a fortune of �760m, making him the 29th richest person in the country.