EURO MP Paul Nuttall has signed a controversial e-petition calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty.

The on-line petition has been launched by political blogger Guido Fawkes with the aim of attracting the necessary 100,000 signatures to trigger action.

"I am in favour of restoring the death penalty for child and serial killers," explained Mr Nuttall, UKIP Euro-MP for the North West.

"I think capital punishment is needed for such heinous crimes and I know that many other people feel the same. A YouGov poll last year found that 74% of people supported the death penalty for murder in some circumstances.

"Generally too much attention is paid to the so called 'human rights' of offenders, what about the rights of victims and their families?"

If the e-petition collects the required number of signatures it will be considered by a committee of back bench MPs, who have the power to allocate debating time in the House "Child and serial killers are never safe to be released back into society and quite frankly keeping them behind bars till they die is a waste of taxpayers money. They forfeit any rights when they murder innocents," said Mr Nuttall.

"With improvements in science there is virtually no chance of mistaken identity - especially when it comes serial killers."