Heart of England Forest, a forest restoration charity in Warwickshire founded by publishing mogul Felix Dennis, has confirmed that Dennis left the organisation at least £175m in his will.

Dennis (pictured), who passed away in June 2014, is thought to have originally left the bulk of his £280m personal fortune to Heart of England Forest, the charity he founded in 1996. However documents released by the probate office in London show that this was reduced to “less than £196m after outstanding affairs were settled”.

The exact figure has not been specified by the charity, but is understood to be around £175m.

Heart of England Forest is a registered charity, which lists its charitable aims as “to establish, maintain and preserve a continuous forest for the benefit of public in the ancient borders of the Forest of Arden to the Vale of Evesham”. Its most recent accounts (published before confirmation of Dennis’ will) for the year ending 31 Dec 2013 show the charity had an income of £1.27m and spending of £175,186.

HoE's spokesman said the charity “was still getting its head around” the amount it has received from Dennis’ legacy.

The charity has already created over 3,000 acres of new, native woodland in Warwickshire having planted over 1.2 million trees as of June 2015.

Dennis, who made his money from a stable of magazines including lads' mag Maxim, is also reported to have left further donations of £25,000 each to Friends of the Elderly, the Salvation Army and also Oxford’s Churchill Hospital.