Gary Glitter flies back to Britain for heart treatment on the NHS

Gary Glitter was released from a Vietnamese prison today and is flying back to London to take advantage of free medical treatment on the NHS.

His lawyer said Glitter, 64, had bought a plane ticket to London following his release from jail after serving 27 months for child sex offences.

The former rock star faces possible arrest at Heathrow over further alleged paedophile offences committed both in the UK and abroad prior to his conviction in Vietnam in March 2006 for molesting two girls aged 10 and 11.

His lawyer Le Thanh Kinh said Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, had left prison in Thu Duc at 11.30am local time (5.30am BST) and was being driven the 90 miles to Ho Chi Minh City airport, a journey expected to take between three and four hours.

Glitter had initially tried to book a business class flight on Qatar Airways but Vietnamese authorities said it was an unfitting way for a prisoner to depart.

Thai Airlines accepted an economyclass booking on a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok, where Glitter is scheduled to transfer to London on a Thai Airlines flight due to arrive at Heathrow tomorrow morning.

Mr Kinh said his client, who has been released early from jail for good behaviour, was heading for London to receive health treatment.

He said: "He has served his sentence and the authorities in Vietnam will deport him. He does not have any sentence to serve in London. If he wants to stop wherever he wants to he can do that.

"If he wants to, he can change flights. He is a free man from today. The only problem is the countries he wants to go to because he has to get a visa.

"He is looking forward to coming back. He is thinking about being free but worried about reporters.

"He is OK but he is worried about his health. He has problems with his hearing and his heart."

Last week Glitter, speaking from jail, had said: "Conditions aren't perfect here so I can't cure my illness as I'd like to. I need access to a UK hospital."

Glitter, who in his heyday in the 1970s was one of Britain's biggest pop stars, reportedly earns more than £50,000 a year from overseas royalties on hits such as I'm The Leader Of The Gang (I Am).

It is also suggested he earns rental income on a £500,000 apartment, currentlyoccupied by tenants in London. One report today claimed Glitter was looking at buying a secluded cottage in the West Country on his return to Britain.

Glitter's decline has been spectacular. He was jailed in Britain in 1999 for downloading child pornography after thousands of images were found on his computer. He later moved to Spain, Cuba and then Cambodia - from where he was deported in 2003 over further alleged sex offences.

He was arrested trying to flee Vietnam after two girls made allegations against him.

An investigation into child rape, which carries the death penalty in Vietnam, was dropped after the girls' families received $ 2 , 000 ( £ 1 , 000 ) compensation. A Foreign Office spokesman said it was "a matter for Mr Gadd and the Vietnamese authorities" where Glitter went after he was deported.

If he does return to London he will be interviewed by police and placed on the Sex Offenders' Register. He will face questioning by officers over alleged previous sex offences.