Ronnie Biggs� biographer is set to profit from his friend�s crimes after agreeing to sell his book�s television rights to Hollywood.

Mr Gray has been friends with the Great Train Robber since 1989 when he was still hiding away in Brazil, and says he would love either Bob Hoskins or Michael Caine to play the part of Biggs on the small screen.

He said: "It came out of the blue because I never thought a company would come in for the film rights, but it�s really exciting. We�re now just waiting for them to return the signed contracts.

"I was slightly disappointed a British firm didn�t come forward though, as I think it would have given the film a raw edge. I�ve seen an American reconstruction of the Great Train Robbery on the Discovery Channel and it was pretty awful � they even had dollar signs on the money bags.

Biggs was a member of the 15-strong gang that attacked the Glasgow to London mail train in August, 1963, making off with �2.6 million in used banknotes in what at the time was the largest robbery in British history.

He served 15 months of a 30-year prison sentence before going on the run in Spain, Australia and Brazil, returning voluntarily to the UK in 2001 when he was immediately re-arrested and imprisoned.

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