The story of one of Britain's last hangmen, Bradford-born Albert Pierrepoint, is to hit the big screen later this year.

During his career, the executioner was responsible for sending more than 450 condemned men and women to their graves.

Now - more than 40 years after the death penalty was abolished in the UK - his macabre story is to be told in a movie.

The Last Hangman, produced by Granada, features Auf Wiedersehen Pet star Timothy Spall in the title role.

The UK Council has invested £30,000 of National Lottery money to ensure the film features on the big screen.

Paul Trijbits, head of the New Cinema Fund, said: "There is a very high level of talent working in British TV drama that deserves international acclaim.

"Putting The Last Hangman in front of international cinema audiences will enable the UK to demonstrate its ability to continue to produce world class cinema."

The film examines Mr Pierrepoint's unique double life.

To many, he was simply a humble grocer and delivery man.

However, he combined his day-to-day role with a 24-year career as the nation's foremost hangman.

Mr Pierrepoint learned his trade from his Uncle Tom and father Henry, both also Bradford-born executioners.

Clayton-born Mr Pierrepoint was well known for ending the lives of some of Britain's most notorious criminals, including Ruth Ellis, Derek Bentley, John Christie and Lord Haw Haw.

He was by far the most prolific executioner of the 20th century, killing an estimated 433 men and 17 women in this country and abroad from 1932 to 1956.

Shortly after the Second World War, Mr Pierrepoint made several trips to Germany, where on December 13, 1945, he ended the lives of 23 war criminals, including the "Beast of Belsen", Josef Kramer.

He is also believed to have executed hardman Winston Shaw, of Manning-ham, in 1955.

The previous year Shaw had tracked down his mistress, Jean Tate, to a "safe" flat she had been placed in, and slaughtered her with a knife and axe.

The position of executioner was unsalaried and Mr Pierrepoint, along with his predecessors, was paid per job.

Despite the gruesome nature of the role, Mr Pierrepoint was said to be a committed worker, who always sought, wherever possible, a humane and dignified death for those whose life he ended.

Never the showman, he refused all offers of TV appearances and viewed his role as simply a necessary cog in the wheels of justice.

Albert resigned as chief executioner in 1956 - eight years before the death penalty was abolished - over a pay dispute.

Taking stock of his career and victims, he wrote: "I have been amazed to see the courage with which they walk into the unknown.

"It did not deter them then and it had not deterred them when they committed what they were convicted for.

"All the men and women I have faced at that final moment convince me that in what I have done I have not prevented a single murder."

In his spare time, Mr Pierrpoint also kept a pub, named The Poor Struggler, with his wife Anne in Greater Manchester. He is also have said to have once owned The Quarry Arms in Clayton.

In an interview in 1983, he said: "During my 25 years as an executioner I believed with all my heart that I was carrying out a public duty.

"I conducted each execution with great care and a clear conscience."

After his retirement in 1956, he campaigned against the death penalty until it was abolished in the UK in 1969.

Despite attempting to keep his role secret, he died a minor celebrity in 1992 at the age of 87.

l Pierrepoint opens in

cinemas on April 7.