Planning official killer Albert Dryden is looking forward to his first visit outside prison walls after being locked up for almost 14-years.

The 64-year-old was jailed for murdering council planning chief Harry Collinson when officers moved in to demolish Dryden's illegally built bungalow in Butsfield, near Consett, County Durham.

Dryden, who was locked up in Rye Hill Prison, near Warwickshire, claimed to have been left to rot in hell.

But the eccentric murderer, who hit the headlines worldwide with his horrific shoot-out scenes, has now been moved to a category C prison in Cumbria.

From his cell in Haverigg Prison, Millom, near Barrow-in-Furness, he tells how he is one step further to becoming a free man and is looking forward to his first time out since the incident in June 1991.

In a letter to his best friend, George Cameron, of Kilchurn, Blackhill, Consett, Dryden told how he was hoping to soon see the outside world again.

But his move has angered Mr Collinson's brother, Roy Collinson, a farmer in Stocksfield, Northumberland, who says "all murderers should be locked up in a prison cell 24-hours a day."

Mr Cameron, 71, said: "Albert has been moved to another prison where he is a category C prisoner now. He has gone to Haverigg Prison and people there go and work in the community. It helps prisoners get used to living back in the community.

"Albert hasn't seen the outside for almost 14 years. He doesn't know how much things are and he certainly wouldn't recognise Consett any more.

"Since he has been inside, Consett has come on in leaps and bounds - we've got Wetherspoons, a McDonalds, a new bypass and supermarkets. He wouldn't recognise the place.

"However, he has written to me saying that he expects to go on a visit to a small town with an officer as he prepares to be rehabilitated back into the community.

"He has still got a little way to go, but he is coming up to 65. He'll be a pensioner when he is released. He's no harm to anyone now."

Mr Cameron added: "Albert is mad keen on American cars. It has always been his passion. He is so much looking forward to his release that he has already got me going around the car shops pricing things up for when he comes out.

"His release won't be immediate, but he is a step closer to freedom."

But Roy Collinson said: "This would be great for him if he was allowed out!

Dryden should be locked up and not allowed to wander around the countryside for him to enjoy.

"The murder was 13-years-ago. That feels just like yesterday for me. All murderers should be locked up in a prison cell 24-hours a day. Before long he will be out parading around Consett with his little gang. It makes me sick."

Haverigg Prison is on the site of an old RAF training centre, converted to a prison in 1967. The prison now holds 564 category C male prisoners.

It focuses on resettlement and re-integrating prisoners into the community on discharge. It has been involved in the Cumbria Marine Project for several years, providing men on release on temporary licence to monitor and remove the pollution on Cumbrian beaches.

Martin Jones, media liaison officer with Haverigg Prison, said: "I cannot comment on any individual cases, but generally prisoners come to us and would have to go through another two stages before being released. They would have to go to open conditions and could go to a hostel after that.

"However, some of the prisoners do work in the community and many of long term prisoners will get to go out on a visit somewhere.

"Dryden will not be eligible to work in the community because his security clearance is not suitable for this sort of work."

Dryden murdered Harry Collinson when years of negotiation with planners failed. Council chiefs brought in bulldozers to flatten his property, built without proper planning permission in June 1991.

The ex-steelworker went on the rampage, shooting dead Mr Collinson, 46, and wounding a policeman and a local reporter. A photographer and a reporter for The Northern Echo were also caught up in the horrific scene.

He shot dad-of-two Mr Collinson twice in the chest and once in the head while he lay on the ground. Dryden was jailed for life at Newcastle Crown Court.