ANSWERS are being demanded after a website was set up dedicated to jailed gangster Colin Gunn.

The Bestwood gang leader, who is serving 35 years, will use the site to "restore positive thoughts" about him.

Gunn has already used it to attack "rumours and hearsay" in the media, saying he will "tackle head-on" any allegations against him.

But Notts Police Authority chairman Coun John Clarke said: "It's highly unusual that any prisoner can set up anything like this.

"I will certainly be asking questions about this with our Police Minister Vernon Coaker MP and the Home Secretary."

Nottingham North MP Graham Allen said he would check whether the site broke prison service rules.

"I will be raising it with the relevant authorities to see whether this is a legitimate thing to do," he said.

A handwritten letter from Gunn, dated February 25, appears to have been scanned and posted online by someone outside the prison.

In it, Gunn said: "I might not have the writing skills of those reporters or access to their resources and readerships, but I hope, after all the negativity, to restore some positive thoughts of me in the minds of people that call me a friend.

"We will see exactly who has been 'hoodwinked' because it's time for the authorities and the gutter press to put up or shut up.

"Watch this space everyone, I will never give in and will fight anything in front of me 100%."

Gunn was jailed in 2006 for masterminding the revenge murders of John and Joan Stirland, who were executed in their seaside home in 2004.

He was also given a nine-year sentence for using police insiders to feed him information.

Gunn, 41, failed in a bid to get that conviction overturned.

The website – www.colingunn.net – gives his address as HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire.

"As this website grows and develops over time, I hope to tackle the various stories and allegations you've no doubt read and talked about," he wrote.

"Please be patient though, as unfortunately it will be down to the establishment on how quickly I can respond to the stories or your questions."

The website address is registered to Gary Sansom at a business address in Hucknall.

Today Mr Sansom said he was not responsible for setting up the site and had allowed a friend to use his web space.

A spokeswoman for the Prison Service said: "We are unable to prevent third parties from publishing information on other people's behalf."

All prisoners in maximum security jails may have their mail checked, but it was not possible to read every letter.

Prison service rules state that prisoners are not allowed to send material in the post for publication about their own crimes "except where it consists of serious representations about conviction or sentence".

Gunn and his associates featured in Hoods, a book by freelance journalist Carl Fellstrom. The book has now sold 12,000 copies and will be released in paperback later this year.

Mr Fellstrom said: "He is someone who had an ability to organise people in a very vicious way and if it's being used to gather together that support again, that's a bad thing for Bestwood."

Notts Police said the website was a matter for the Prison Service.

kate.skelton@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk