SOHAM murderer Ian Huntley has been moved to a North-East prison, it was reported today.

The 33-year-old - who killed ten-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman - has been transferred to Frankland Prison, Durham City, according to The Sun.

Huntley was secretly moved on Monday from the hospital wing of Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire, as the 700 other inmates were eating lunch.

He was taken by prison van, escorted by two police cars to Durham.

The Sun reported that a source within Wakefield said: "Huntley was gutted to be leaving.

"He said he was terrified about what might happen to him inside Frankland."

It was reported that one of the reasons that Huntley was moved was that prison bosses at Wakefield, who have been ordered to cut costs by £300,000 a year, said he was costing too much .

They calculate the bill to gurad him on a 24 hour suicide watch was £1,128 per day.

A spokeswoman for the Prison Service said that it was not policy to discuss the location of individual prisoners.

Huntley was jailed for 40 years for the murders of Holly and Jessica in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002.

Since being in prison, Huntley had attempted to take his own life at least three times.