Zinc telluride (ZnTe) epitaxial layers were grown on gallium arsenide (GaAs) (211) substrate at different growth temperatures by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The fabricated interdigitated metal semiconductor metal (MSM) configuration-based photodetector on ZnTe epitaxial layers exhibited stable and excellent photo response in a broad spectral range (250 to 550 nm) up to 125 ℃. The room temperature and higher temperature (125 ℃) values of maximum current, spectral responsivity, and detectivity at an applied bias of 5 V and 550 nm wavelength were 3.5×10-8 A, 0.1 A/W and 1×1011 Jones and 1.7×10-6 A, 2.5 A/W and 1.5×1011 Jones, respectively. The maximum photo-to-dark-current ratio (PDCR) value at zero bias and 100 ℃ was obtained for the ZnTe layer grown at an optimum growth temperature of 380 ℃. The high PDCR value exhibits the self-powered capability of the detector. Further, the detector exhibits good On-Off switching to the illuminating light with rise and decay times less than 0.29 s and 0.4 s, respectively, at room temperature. The dependence of photo response on material quality was analysed by varying the substrate growth temperature. The broadband responsivity of the ZnTe-based photodetector shows its capability as a multicolour detector in UV and visible region with the use of suitable blocking filters.