His case was referred to the Court of Appeal in London in November but a date has still not been set.

"It is up to the Appeal Court to give us a date but we are sure the case will be heard by the end of the year," said his solicitor, Holly Dustin.

Foster, now 39, was jailed for life in 1986 for strangling 74-year-old pools collector Harold Cheetham.

He has always protested his innocence but an appeal against his conviction was dismissed in 1987.

In 1993 the Home Office refused to send his case back to the Court of Appeal.

But last year the Criminal Cases Review Commission - a body responsible for reviewing suspected miscarriages of criminal justice - ruled that an appeal should go ahead.