A NORTH-EAST murderer who killed three members of the same family and a North Yorkshire serial killer who murdered twin sisters and an elderly couple are among 35 prisoners who have been told they will never be released from prison.

Mark Hobson and Arthur Hutchinson appear on a Home Office list of murderers who have been told they will die behind bars.

Hutchinson, from Hartlepool, was on the run from police when, in 1983, he turned a Sheffield family's wedding celebrations into a bloodbath.

He killed solicitor Basil Laitner, his wife, Avril, and their son, Richard, 28, and raped a bridesmaid.

Hutchinson went on the run and earned himself the nickname of The Fox.

He was caught two weeks later near Hartlepool as he tried to phone his mother, and went on trial at Durham Crown Court.

In 2004, former binman Hobson murdered girlfriend Claire Sanderson with a hammer at their flat near Selby, in North Yorkshire, then lured her sister, Diane, to the same flat a week later, where he also killed her.

Only hours afterwards, the 35-year-old killed pensioners James and Joan Britton at their home in Strensall, near York.

Yesterday, after a request by The Times under the Freedom Of Information Act, the Home Office revealed that only 35 prisoners in the UK had received "whole-life tariffs" -meaning they will remain behind bars till they die.

The Government has released the names of 30 of the lifers, the remaining five being withheld because their tariffs had never been reviewed and, therefore, final decisions on the term they would serve had not been set.

Other lifers include David Bieber, who was arrested at a Gateshead hotel after he shot and killed PC Ian Broadhurst on Boxing Day in 2003.

The list also names some of Britain's most infamous killers, including Moors Murderer Ian Brady, serial killer Denis Nilsen and, the only woman on the list, Rosemary West.

However, it does not include Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, who murdered 13 women during the Seventies and Eighties.

A spokeswoman for the Prison and Probation Service said he was not included because his legal team had not applied for a tariff to be set, which would have to happen before the High Court could make a decision in his case.

Hobson, meanwhile, was sentenced to spend his whole life behind bars after he pleaded guilty to the murders at Leeds Crown Court in May last year. His appeal against the sentence was thrown out seven months later.

Catherine Wilkins, the daughter of Mr and Mrs Britton, who lives in Durham, could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

However, at the time Hobson lost his appeal, she said: "Admitting his guilt does not change the fact that he is a callous, vicious murderer and his victims suffered horrendously. We feel a great sense of relief knowing that he will never be released."