ROCK star Roger Daltrey (pictured) has described his rows with gangland killers, the Kray twins, as he tried to make a film about their lives.

Daltrey, singer with The Who, owned the film rights to the twins’ life story for five years but was never able to persuade the movie industry to back it.

Eventually he sold out to a rival company and the twins had to be paid £255,000 for the film to be made. The film is a box office hit which has now grossed more than £2 million.

Home Secretary David Waddington is now looking at ways of preventing criminals from ever again profiting from their past. But yesterday Daltrey was unrepentant.

At the Cannes Film Festival he said that he regularly visited Reg Kray in Lewes Jail and Ronnie Kray in Broadmoor Hospital. Both are serving life.

“I have had incredible rows with Ronnie and Reg. I said if I ever made a film about them, it was not going to be a whitewash. One thing I will never be is their patsy on a string.

“It’s all right for these self-righteous MPs to say that criminals should not be paid this amount of money for their life story but until they change the law, then I’m afraid you have to negotiate the rights with them if you want to make a film and I feel totally vindicated by the film they have made.”