A double rapist who had a £10,000 sex change operation behind bars has been transferred to a women-only prison, it has been reported.

Martin Ponting, 50, a father-of-three, became Jessica Winfield in jail after being sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995.

She was moved from HMP Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire, to HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, and is hoping to be released this year, The Sun reported.

Bronzefield is Europe's largest female prison.

The rapist was moved from HMP Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire, to HMP Bronzefield in Surrey

The revelation has stunned one of her victims who called the decision a 'kick in the teeth'.

Speaking to the Sun, she said: 'There are not enough words to describe him and the evil he has done. It is diabolical they have allowed him to have a sex change and diabolical that he could be freed this year.

'He may have changed physically but his brain is still the same.

'You can change somebody's genitals but it's not going to take away the urge and impulse inside them to do horrific things to children.

'I feel like it mocks the people he offended against. It is a kick in the teeth for me and his other victim.'

Discussing her sexuality in the prisoners' newspaper, Inside Time, in 2007, Winfield claimed she was targeted in prison because of her sexuality.

She said: 'I changed my name to that of a female to prove to the authorities and everyone concerned that I am very serious about my gender and that I do not feel right being a man.

'I feel like a female trapped in a male body.'

But furious campaigners expressed their outrage at the decision.

David Hines, founder of the Victimcare charity, said: 'Support charities are struggling to make ends meet and get no help from the Government, but prisoners get all the luxuries they could possibly ask for.'

Martin Ponting, 50, a father-of-three, became Jessica Winfield in HMP Whitemoor (pictured) after being sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995

Transgender prisoners were permitted to right to have gender surgery in 1999 when kidnapper John Pilley and five other inmates, including a murderer, launched a legal challenge to have surgery on the NHS.

Pilley, who was sentenced to life in jail for the kidnapping of a taxi-driver, Linda Charlesworth, in 1981, became the first prisoner to undergo a sex change.

Then in 2009 a High Court ruling enabled transgender prisoners to transfer to different sex jails.

Prisoners must pass rigorous psychological tests to demonstrate they genuinely want to change sex and are not just seeking special treatment.

Last month it was claimed child killer Ian Huntley wanted a sex change so he could spend his life term in a female prison.

He has also reportedly asked fellow prisoners to refer to him by the female name 'Lian' inside the all-male HMP Frankland.

However a Prison Service spokesman denied he was planning transitioning to switch gender.