An ex-rock star says he has finally been cleared of any involvement in a Spanish murder after a 25-year nightmare.

Gary Owens, from Stockport , now plans to sue both the Spanish and British governments alleging wrongful arrest and imprisonment.

He was twice arrested and held in jail on remand in 1991 and in 2008, on suspicion of playing a part in the death of a wealthy Norwegian club owner on the Costa del Sol. He spent a total of almost three years in prison.

The guitarist whose band A II Z made the UK heavy metal charts in 1980 and played with supergroups like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, says he has finally been told there is no case against him.

His ordeal began when a Spanish policeman tapped on the window of Gary and his partner Jayne’s Renault hire car.

As he wound down the window a shotgun was thrust through it - inches from his face.

Fifteen officers surrounded his vehicle outside an apartment in Tenerife on April 2, 1991.

He was arrested on suspicion of murdering a Norwegian businessman Torbjorn Heta.

Gary spent 30 months in high security jails before being released on bail in October 1993, without charge.

The M.E.N. was there to witness his release.

The body of Mr Heta, 33, the owner of a nightclub and recording studio in Marbella, was found down a well.

Twelve people, including Gary, were arrested in connection with the killing - but it remains unsolved.

Gary, 55, a former Bramhall High School pupil, returned to the UK in October 1995 after being advised by officials in the British Embassy in Madrid to leave Spain.

But in 2008 while living in Poynton with Jayne, he was issued with a European Arrest Warrant.

He fought extradition proceedings through the High Court, and Supreme Court, but lost and in November 2009 and was flown back to Spain.

Gary says he was put on “the railroad” - moved from jail to jail throughout the country - for several weeks before being granted £5,000 bail in February 2010.

He spent the next six years on bail before being told in September last year that no action would be taken against him.

It took until December for him to get the £5000 bail money back.

Now he is calling for a public inquiry into why he was wrongfully imprisoned and aims to sue British and Spanish authorities.

He claims others attempted to set him up for the murder, which he believes was linked to a drugs-related deal which went wrong. For his own safety he was given the name ‘Charles Axon’ while held in custody in Spain.

Gary said: “I had met the man who was murdered as he owned a 24-track state-of-the art recording studio in the basement of his villa. I was being given the chance of recording a solo album there.”

But about a month before his arrest, Gary claims he was warned at gunpoint by three men - who he believes were the killers - to get out of Sitio de Calahonda, a small town near Marbella, in the wake of Mr Heta’s murder.

He believes British drug gangs were involved in the murder.

Gary has written to former prime minister, David Cameron, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Foreign Office officials demanding an investigation.

He said: “For 25 years I have been accused of a crime that there was no evidence for. I have never been charged and I have been falsely imprisoned. My music career has been ruined and my businesses and family have suffered.

“We want an investigation at national level in the UK and Spain. I have been unjustly treated by the Spanish and British justice systems. We are claiming compensation from the Spanish system for false imprisonment and human rights breaches.

“I want to know how the Spanish justice system can destroy my life. There is 100 per cent proof that I had nothing to do with this man’s death.

“The Spanish and European justice system has failed me. It is a total disgrace.”

He is currently living in a rural part of Spain, near Malaga.

Gary added: “During the last six years no one from the Spanish police or authorities have been to see me to discuss the case. I am staying here for the moment until I can get proper legal representation. But you can’t get justice without money.”

The Foreign Office said: “We provided consular assistance to a British man and his family after he was imprisoned in Spain in November 2009.”

They declined to comment further.

The Ministry of Justice in Spain for a comment. A spokeswoman said: “I’m afraid that we can not help you with your request. You should try to get in touch with the Spanish court that judged the case.”

A II Z - named after the street atlas and founded by Gary - saw success after being formed in 1979 and rode the new wave of British heavy metal before breaking up in 1982.