A MASTER forger who fooled the world with his fake masterpieces has released his memoirs.

Shaun Greenhalgh emulated the work of some of history’s most revered artists and sculptors from the home of his elderly parents in Bromley Cross, while they fronted the sales operation.

His forgeries eventually caught up with him and he was arrested in 2006 and sentenced to four years and eight months at Bolton Crown Court.

Now he has penned his life story, A Forger's Tale, written while he was in prison.

A national newspaper reported that in the book, Mr Greenhalgh claims he drew La Bella Principessa, a chalk and ink picture which is believed to be a lost 15th century Leonardo da Vinci, in 1978.

He also claims the picture was inspired by Sally, one of his colleagues during his time working at the Co-op supermarket in Bromley Cross.

The newspaper also reports that in the book he claims he faked works by LS Lowry, Barbara Hepworth and Edgar Degas.

The family's biggest sale came in 2003 when Mr Greenhalgh's late father George convinced Bolton Museum that his son's alabaster copy of the Amarna Princess, depicting a relation of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, was 3,000 years old and worth £440,000.

However the operation was uncovered in 2005, when a minor error in a supposedly ancient Assyrian tablet was spotted by the British Museum.

Mr Greenhalgh's parents were both given suspended sentences for their role, also having assets of £404,250 confiscated by the court and being ordered to pay £363,000 to Bolton Museum.

The book is published by ZCZ Editions, with a limited run of 400 copies priced at £25 each.