True Crime Museum in Hastings launches "Prison Life" exhibition featuring Rose West's laundry

The exhibition focuses on prison laundry and features a piece of underwear that belonged to notorious serial killer Rosemary West, which she washed in her cell sink and dried on the hot pipes.

Joel Griggs, curator of the museum, explains: "Female prisoners in this country, who only make up about 3% of the total prison population, are allowed to wear their own clothes, which can be identified and then given back to them if they go through the laundry system. But obviously, underwear is less identifiable, and prisoners don't want to get other people's underwear back in their laundry, so they wash them in the sink and dry them on the hot pipes in their cell.

"We've got some other items belonging to Rosemary West as well, some correspondence with senior prison officers at Bronzefield Prison, where she was at the time, and also a receipt from the prison shop, where she obviously had a very sweet tooth, things like wagon wheels and chocolate bars, crisps and all that sort of stuff.

He added: "When we first opened the museum, we were offered the underwear at a ridiculous price. It was by a member or former member of prison staff at Bronzefield Prison. We were offered them for about £17,000, which was absolutely potty. They then decided to sell them on eBay at fifty pounds per square centimetre. You can actually see on the knickers where they've been marked up for cutting.

"It was immediately pulled from eBay because it contravenes some of their rules. I don't know what rules because I haven't discovered that yet. Whether it's selling prisoners' items or selling used ladies' undergarments. But so, they were offered back to us for a lot less. About £2,500, I think we ended up paying for them.

"It's not an exhibition about Rose West, and we definitely do not condone what she's done. It's an exhibition about the prison regime and routine. Those small freedoms that we all take for granted disappear as soon as you are imprisoned. It just happens to be that we've got items from Rose West, which gives it that interesting edge, shall we say, that we've got her knickers in there. They certainly raise quite a lot of eyebrows and create talking points among customers."

The museum is open daily from 10 to 5pm. For more information and bookings, visit https://www.truecrimemuseum.co.uk/