A transgender murderer serving a life sentence has been given the green light for gender reassignment surgery on the NHS.

The £20,000 procedure has been described as a “security nightmare” by prison officers and will see Paris Green escorted from her maximum-security prison in Scotland to a hospital in Brighton.

The 1,000-mile-round-trip from Edinburgh will be followed by the life changing surgery and a two-week recovery period.

The whole process will take place under 24-hour guard and cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds, with a potential extra £60,000 for further surgery if recommended.

The surgery, which is supported by transgender rights campaigners, was given the go-ahead last week and is scheduled to begin within weeks.

Green, 27, was found guilty of murder and jailed for life in 2013 after she tortured, sexually assaulted and beat a man to death with two accomplices.

Since being incarcerated, Green from Glenrothes, Fife, has been removed from a women’s prison for sexually assaulting other inmates.