THE story of Norfolk farmer Tony Martin is to be retold on stage, it has emerged.Mr Martin is said to be "flattered" that playwright Toni Arthur Hay is writing a play about his case.

THE story of Norfolk farmer Tony Martin is to be retold on stage, it has emerged.

Mr Martin is said to be "flattered" that playwright Toni Arthur Hay is writing a play about his case.

Mr Martin's friend and supporter Malcolm Starr yesterday said Mrs Arthur Hay plans to stage the play at local theatres before taking it to the West End.

He said that the former children's TV presenter, who lives in Northwold, had contacted him about the project and that he and Mr Martin would be meeting her to discuss it in the next few weeks.

"She phoned me about three weeks ago and said could she meet Mr Martin. She said that she finds it a very interesting story," Mr Starr said.

"She wants to get the play as accurate as possible."

Mr Starr said that Mrs Arthur Hay, who presented Play School and Play Away, plans to stage the play at Norwich's Theatre Royal and Cambridge Arts Theatre before moving it to London.

"I think Mr Martin is quite flattered," Mr Starr said.

Mr Martin, 58, was released from prison in July after serving three years of a five-year sentence for the manslaughter of 16-year-old Fred Barras, who he shot during a bungled raid on his isolated Emneth Hungate farmhouse in August 1999.

His murder conviction was reduced to manslaughter and the sentence cut to five years on appeal.

Mrs Arthur Hay was unavailable for comment, but her husband, Malcolm, confirmed she was writing a play based on Mr Martin's case.