ONE of Britain's most notorious animal rights campaigners has died after going on a hunger strike at Long Lartin prison.

Barry Horne, aged 49, was serving an 18-year term for arson, following a nationwide terror campaign, which included firebombings.

He had been moved to the South Littleton establishment in March in a vain bid to end a series of food fasts he had carried out since he was imprisoned, in 1997.

The father-of-two died from liver failure in Worcester's Ronkswood Hospital at 8.35am on Monday, to where he had been transferred last Thursday, as his condition deteriorated.

Talking about Horne's hunger striking, Long Lartin's deputy governor, John Huntington, said: "It's something he had done at his last establishment and he spent a period of time outside, in hospital." Moving him to Long Lartin, said Mr Huntington, was "an effort to try and break the cycle of food refusal and try and support him and give him a fresh start".

Horne had insisted that he was not to be forcefed.

Mr Huntington went on: "Our main concern is to minimise self-harm by prisoners and it's our foremost priority. As such, we treat all incidents of self-harm very seriously and we have got very strict systems to try and minimise that.

"It's very distressing for staff and prisoners but, at the end of the day, if he is of sound mind, you can't force feed them and Barry Horne was deemed to be of sound mind. We had no option but to abide by his directive."

He added: "I would just like to say that the whole of the establishment is saddened by Barry's death in such harrowing circumstances." A memorial service for Horne will be held at the prison.