Josef Fritzl 'says he'd love to live in BRITAIN if he is let out of prison and roam free on the Highlands of Scotland'

Josef Fritzl has reportedly said he would love to live in Britain if he is let out of prison to 'roam free on the Highlands of Scotland'.

The 88-year-old has been incarcerated since 2009 after holding his daughter Elisabeth captive in his cellar in the Austrian town of Amstetten for 24 years between 1984 and 2008, raping her thousands of times and fathering her seven children.

Fritzl is now able to apply for release and said he dreamed of moving to the UK after seeing a documentary about Shakespeare that revealed Britain's 'spectacular scenery', the Sun reports.

He said the documentary had inspired him and that he knew he wanted to 'emigrate to the UK' rather than stay in his native Austria.

'Above all I want to roam free on the wild Highlands of Scotland. For me the lush green fields of Wales are also very, very appealing,' Fritzl added, reiterating he was 'headed' to the UK should he be released.

Josef Fritzl was granted conditional release from a prison for the mentally ill by an Austrian court in January, shortly after being pictured outside of prison for the first time in 15 years

Elisabeth Fritzl (pictured as a schoolgirl), now 56, was held prisoner by her father Josef in the cellar of the family's Austrian home from 1984 to 2008

Josef Fritzl is seen during day four of his trial at the country court of St. Poelten in 2009 

Even if he was released, Fritzl would have to kiss his dream to live in the UK goodbye as the Home Office would refuse to grant him entry due to his long custodial sentence, according to guidance on the grounds for refusal relating to criminality.

A court in the town of Krems an der Donau had ordered in January that Fritzl be transferred to a regular prison from a prison psychiatric unit after being told he was 'no longer at threat of reoffending', but this decision has since been overturned.

His daughter Elisabeth, who is now 56 and has been given a new identity, previously said she hopes her evil father will be punished for his crimes 'until death'. 

Fritzl's trial heard he raped her 3,000 times in the rat-infested cellar and how he beat and kicked her and eventually had seven children with her.

The mother lived downstairs in the flat with her children - Kerstin born in 1988, Stefan (1990) and Felix (2002).

Meanwhile Lisa (1992), Monica (1994) and Alexander (1996) were raised upstairs in the home Fritzl shared with his wife Rosemarie in sleepy Amstetten in central Austria, 48 miles from Linz.

Another son, named Micheal, tragically died from neglect shortly after he was born.

Speaking through her lawyer Eva Plaz at her father's trial, Elisabeth said that she hopes he is never released.

'She wants the defendant to be held responsible until death,' Ms Plaz said.

Earlier the lawyer had told the court: 'The defendant has made himself the master of life and death. He must be punished for this.'

Fritzl, who has now changed his name to one not made public, has been in prison since his conviction in 2009 for incest, rape, enslavement, coercion and the murder by neglect of his newborn son. 

Fritzl, 88, is detained at Sankt Poelten Prison and is suffering from Alzheimer's disease 

Elisabeth lived in this dingy, cramped basement for 24 years with her children

Josef Fritzl during a four-week-holiday in Pataya, Thailand, January 1, 1998, to February 3, 1998 

MailOnline reported that Elisabeth has build a new life with her bodyguard husband in an isolated riverside home just half an hour from the dungeon where she was held captive for 24 years, living opposite her oldest daughter Kerstin.

This comes after Fritzl wrote an apology letter earlier this year in which he claims he is a 'good father'.

'I regret all of my actions deeply. Kind regards, Fritzl,' the incestious rapist wrote.

'I was actually a good father,' he claimed, saying that he saved money for the 'children's education', that he visited them often, helped them with chores and even got them to learn instruments 'and so forth'.