SERIAL killer Peter Sutcliffe's trip to South Lakeland has sparked fears that people could be put off visiting the seaside village of Arnside.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Collins has spoken out in the wake of the mass murderer's controversial visit, reports Andrew Daniels.

"It might deter some of the people who want to come to Arnside who now might think hang on a minute' and think twice before coming," he said. "On the other hand it might attract unsavoury people fascinated by serial killers who follow around in their footsteps."

Chairman of the Arnside business and tourism action group Alan Taylor visited Mr Collins's offices this week to express his concerns about what damage the visit had done to the area's tourist industry.

However, Cumbria County Councillor for Arnside Ian Stewart said: "What will stop people going to Arnside more than the fact that Peter Sutcliffe was here for half an hour is that United Utilities have got the promenade dug up and that there are potholes on the road from Milnthorpe."

When news of Sutcliffe's visit broke last week Mr Collins wrote to Home Secretary Charles Clarke demanding a guarantee that this would never be allowed to happen again. He has followed this up by submitting two parliamentary questions seeking to find out under what conditions Mr Clarke would permit a return visit by Sutcliffe, also known as the Yorkshire Ripper, to Arnside and what costs were incurred during the trip.

Much controversy was sparked last week when news broke that the Yorkshire Ripper visited Arnside under close prison guard. Sutcliffe, now 58, was visiting the site where his father's ashes were scattered and local butcher Lionel Poteau, 44, thinks he may have seen the Ripper through his shop window standing just across the road from houses in the tranquil village. "We saw men on the pier, and it seemed strange because it was a very, very bad, windy day so it was strange to see people on the pier looking around," he said.

"The problem is we didn't know he was coming and it was only when we heard he had been that we thought it could have been him.

"He should never have been allowed to come. He should stay in prison for what he has done."

Sutcliffe is currently serving life in prison for the murder of 13 women in a bloody six-year killing spree from 1975 to 1981. Reports this week say he has written to the Home Office saying that he should be freed, arguing he has not committed a crime for 25 years, but the Home Office could not confirm this.