Hanoi  - Gary Glitter is returning to Britain only reluctantly after his pending release from Vietnamese prison, the 1970s "glam rock" star's lawyer said Monday.

"He doesn't want to go back to the UK, because he's had so many troubles there already," Le Thanh Kinh said. "He wanted to go to another country, like Singapore or Hong Kong."

Kinh said Glitter, 64, would change planes in either Bangkok or Doha, but the location was being kept secret to discourage press coverage.

Glitter is to be freed on Tuesday after serving two years and nine months for sexually abusing minors.

British police are expected to meet Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, as he arrives back in London when he will be required to sign the national sex offenders' register.

Glitter will then have to keep the police informed of his whereabouts if he decides to stay in Britain.

He was arrested in November 2005 as he tried to catch a flight to Bangkok after being accused of sexually assaulting two girls in Vietnam.

It is believed he paid the two girls over 1,000 dollars to reduce their initial charge against him of rape, for which he could have been sentenced to death.

He received a three-year sentence which was reduced by three months during a Vietnamese New-Year amnesty.

Glitter has served his sentence in the bleak Tu Duc prison in Binh Thuan province. Foreign press have not been allowed to enter the prison, which lies some 100 kilometres east of Ho Chi Minh City.

"He's had a very hard time in prison. He won't have anything to miss about that place," Kinh said.

During his time in prison, Glitter was diagnosed with a heart problem and is expected to seek medical treatment after his return to Britain.

He was arrested in Britain in 1997 when thousands of pornographic images depicting children were found on his computer when he took it to be repaired.

He was sentenced to four months in prison and served two, after which he left for South-East Asia.

The British press tracked him down in Cambodia and Vietnam and wrote articles accusing him of abusing local children. These led to his arrest and conviction.

Glitter is famous for his flamboyant costumes and behaviour during the glam rock period and enjoyed hits like I'm the Leader of the Gang, Do You Wanna Touch Me, Hello! Hello! I'm Back Again and I Love You Love Me Love.

Glitter has repeatedly protested his innocence since his arrest. (dpa)