SHIPLEY MP Philip Davies has urged a Government Minister to move Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe to a prison as soon as possible, after psychiatrists decided he is no longer mentally ill.

Doctors treating 69-year-old Sutcliffe have recommended he be moved out of Broadmoor secure hospital in Berkshire, where he has been held since 1984, and into a specialist prison unit.

Lorry driver Sutcliffe, of Heaton, Bradford, was sentenced to 20 life terms in 1981 after he was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others during a six-year reign of terror from 1974 to 1980 across the north. He claimed the voice of God had sent him on a mission to kill.

He was initially sent to Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight but was moved to Broadmoor after he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Justice Secretary Michael Gove will now consider the doctor's recommendations and make the final decision on whether Sutcliffe is moved to a prison.

Conservative MP Mr Davies told the Telegraph & Argus he had raised the issue with Prisons Minister Andrew Selous yesterday at a meeting of the Justice Select Committee.

"I asked whether a final decision had been made, whether he had been moved to prison and if there would be implications for prison safety. He didn't give much away."

Mr Davies added: "Prison is the right place for him, I am very supportive of him going back there.

"I hope that decision is taken as swiftly as possible and he is moved to prison as soon as it is practical. It's a straightforward decision to make.

"The man is clearly evil and should be in prison for the crimes he committed. It is where he belongs and I am sure the families of his victims think that is where he belongs."

He said Mr Gove would have to take into consideration which prison Sutcliffe would go to and what security arrangements would need to be in place.

Mr Davies added: "He should be in a category A prison. The obvious one is Wakefield, it is a maximum security prison in West Yorkshire, but I don't care which one it is, as long as it is category A."

Earlier this year, Sutcliffe's younger brother, Mick Sutcliffe, said his brother was resigned to never leaving Broadmoor.

He told the T&A: "He told me he is not going anywhere. I don't think they will ever move him. It has been mentioned and discussed in the past. Years ago there was talk of him being moved to Wakefield, where it would be easier for us to visit him, but nothing came of it."

Yesterday, Mr Sutcliffe said his brother had not mentioned any proposed move to prison.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "Decisions over whether prisoners are to be sent back to prison from secure hospitals are based on clinical assessments made by independent medical staff.

"The High Court ordered in 2009 that Sutcliffe should never be released. This was upheld by the Court of Appeal."