Ronnie Bigg's could get his best Valentine's present ever - his freedom

The 78-year-old Great Train Robber was due to go to court this week to argue that the time he had spent in custody abroad before being extradited to Britain should be taken off his 30-year term.

His lawyer said today, however, that the legal action had been abandoned because the Government had decided to accept Biggs's case and bring forward his parole date to 14 February next year.

Ronnie Biggs as a young man went on the run for 35 years before coming back voluntarily to the UK in 2001

Although Biggs will still have to be cleared for release by the Parole Board, his age and poor heath mean that it is almost certain his application will be approved.

That would mean that Biggs, who spent 35 years on the run living in Spain, Australia and Brazil before returning to Britain in 2001, would be released after spending only a decade in British jails for his part in one of the country's most notorious crimes.

He was one of a 15-strong gang that robbed the Glasgow to London mail train and made off with £2.6 million in used banknotes in 1963. The train driver, Jack Mills, was coshed over the head and never fully recovered before dying in 1970.

Biggs escaped from Wandsworth Prison 15 months after being sentenced.