A grandmother credited with helping East End gangland boss Reggie Kray become a born-again Christian sold artwork and letters he gave her for �1,360 at auction today.

Carol-Ann Kelly, of north-west London, met Reggie while visiting her then husband in Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight in 1983.

They became friends after the gangster, notorious for running organised crime in east London with his twin brother Ronnie in the 1950s and 60s, told her she reminded him of his former wife Frances.

The top-selling lot at Gorringes auctioneers in Lewes, East Sussex, was a signed oil painting of a boxer which Reggie made for Carol’s son David in 1985. The picture fetched �800.

A coloured pencil sketch Reggie made of himself as a cowboy sold for �420.

Ms Kelly said: “I’m glad it’s all over because I’ve had them for 25 years.

“I’m happy with how much they fetched.

“I just hope that the person who has bought the items looks after them.”

The pair read the bible together during visits and Reggie was so fond of her that he paid for the rent on a flat on the Isle of Wight so she could visit him in prison with David, then eight years old.

A letter in which Reggie said that Ms Kelly was a big part of his life sold for �95 while a secret note passed by Ms Kelly to Reggie’s elder brother Charlie fetched �45.

The letters were written in the 1980s when Reggie was serving a life sentence for the murder of Jack “The Hat” McVitie.

He died of bladder cancer in 2000, two months after being released from prison on compassionate grounds.