Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe will stay in Broadmoor - in spite of a bid by relatives to get him a priority move to the north of England.

Family members who asked Home Secretary Jack Straw in January to move the former Bradford lorry driver in the wake of his attack by fellow prisoner Ian Kay have been told by the Home Office that their communication has been 'noted'.

A source close to the family described the letter as non-committal and said that the matter may be reviewed at some stage in the future if it was considered a move may be "advantageous".

He said the family had hoped for an early move because of the difficulty in making the long journey to Berkshire to visit Sutcliffe.

"His father has had two heart attacks and can only walk on the flat. He hasn't seen Peter for four years and might never see him again."

The source said relatives believed bad publicity about Ashworth High Security Hospital in Liverpool - where they wanted Sutcliffe transferred - had put the Home Office against the move. "They don't think it is going to happen now."

But today two victims who survived attacks by Sutcliffe who murdered 13 women spoke of their relief that the Home Office had not accepted the bid.

Maureen Long, 62, of Buttershaw, Bradford, who was attacked in 1997 on wasteland at Birks Hall Lane Bradford, and left for dead, said: "I don't want him in the North of England. It is too near and I would be very frightened."

Her daughter Denise said: "My mother has never recovered she is afraid to go out. They should lock him up down there for ever."

Olive Smelt, 69, of Boothtown, Halifax, who suffered a fractured skull during an attack in 1975 said she did not want him moved and would never recover from her ordeal.

She said her family had been with her at the weekend on the anniversary of the attack.

Sutcliffe's solicitor Kerry MacGill said a move had been recommended at three mental health tribunals. "But it hasn't happened. I would like it to happen. He has members of the family who would like to be near him."

Sutcliffe is blind in his left eye following the attack by Kay, who was later found guilty of his attempted murder and sentenced for life under the Mental Health Act. Sutcliffe was taken to hospital after the attack and stayed there until recently.

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