The 'Yorkshire Ripper', the notorious British serial killer has begun a challenge to get out of jail.

Peter Sutcliffe is appealing on the grounds that the Government failed to set the exact length of his sentence.

Sutcliffe, 61, was jailed for life in 1981 for the murders of 13 women over five years in one of Britain's most notorious criminal cases.

Sutcliffe preyed on lone women, some of them prostitutes, in northern England in a five-year reign of terror.

He gained the name the 'Yorkshire Ripper' because of the way he mutilated his victims after murdering them, as did the original 'Jack the Ripper' in east London 120 years ago.

Sutcliffe’s London law firm has said the appeal will be lodged on the basis that the state has a legal obligation to set a minimum term that life sentence prisoners must serve before becoming eligible for parole.

It is believed Sutcliffe wants to be moved back into the prison system from the Broadmoor secure hospital in Berkshire, where he is being treated for mental illness.

According to legal sources, on return to prison, the length of his sentence would need to be formally laid down.