A Belgian serial rapist will not now be put to death, after doctors refused his request to be euthanised.

Frank Van den Bleeken, who's spent 26 years in jail for rapes and murder, had been due to be euthanised on Sunday.

But doctors treating the 52 year old have pulled out of the euthanasia procedure, which is legal in Belgium. Van den Bleeken will now be moved to a psychiatric hospital in the city of Ghent.

The family of one of Van den Bleeken's victims had called for him to be left to die in prison, rather than 'escape' by dying.