A PLAY written by a Bolton woman about moors murderer Myra Hindley will take to the stage next month -- against the wishes of the families of her victims.

A one-woman, 40-minute monologue will explore Hindley and Ian Brady's brutal killing of five children during the 1960s.

It will allege Hindley was influenced by her former lover Ian Brady.

The play is set in Holloway Prison during the 1970s -- before Hindley confessed to killing Pauline Reade, aged 16, and Keith Bennett, 12.

The play's author Sheila McAnulty, from Ainsworth, admitted: "It's bound to stir up some controversy."

But Mrs McAnulty, who teaches A-level drama and theatre studies at Bury College, said she wanted to explore Hindley's mind. She says she has written a love story which explores the murderer's relationship with Brady, looking back at her crimes and forward to the rest of her life.

Similar projects have been fiercely attacked in the past for being insensitive and for glorifying Hindley.

Mrs McAnulty said: "I believe people are interested in Hindley and it's still a big concern that she was able to do what she did five times and get away with it. I look at how she became a murderer."

In 1966, Hindley and Brady were convicted of murdering two children, 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey and 17-year-old Edward Evans. Brady was also convicted of murdering 12-year-old John Kilbride. They later confessed to the murders of Pauline and Keith, whose body has never been found.

Hindley died last November after serving 36 years in prison.

Norman Brennan, director of the Victims of Crime Trust, and a spokesman for the families, said: "The families of Hindley's victims just want to get on with their lives. Hindley's crimes took place in 1963 and bringing it up time and again doesn't help them at all."

Mrs McAnulty said: "Anything that stirs up memories of these crimes will obviously be very difficult, but I'm not excusing anything Hindley did at all and I've not done this to generate publicity for myself."

The play will be put on in the basement at Taurus, on Canal Street, Manchester, on February 2, 4 and 5, a small venue holding up to 40 people, each paying £4.

Any profits would be used to take the show on tour. Taurus owner Ian Scott was unavailable for comment.