PEOPLE in Todmorden where evil GP Harold Shipman is thought to have honed his killing skills have told of their shock at the mass murder claims.

Jean Hartley, who has a cheese stall on the town's market said: "I only saw him twice, he was not my regular doctor.

"I found him to be very, very charming and very understanding. He was prepared to give his time and listen to your problems. All this has come as such a shock, it is horrendous.

"I find the whole thing hard to believe, he didn't appear to be that type of man at all, he was lovely. I saw him at a time when a bereavement had upset me very much indeed and he was prepared to see me and let me jabber on.

"He was lovely and I know a lot of people in Todmorden who feel the same. People who were his patients and who saw him regularly are totally gobsmacked."

Arnold White, 79, of Todmorden, saw Dr Shipman when he badly cut two fingers in an accident.

He said: "He sewed my fingers back when I cut them with a saw. He was a brilliant doctor and everyone respected him. He was very good. What we have heard in the news afterwards has come as a terrible shock."

Sydney Turner, 76, of Walsden, added: "None of my family were patients of his but everyone is talking about it. It must be terrible for some people, there are so many people who he is said to have killed."

Frank Fielding, 78, of Todmorden, said: "It will be of concern to some people in Todmorden but it doesn't bother me personally.

"Of course I have read about it over a period of time and it is very hard to believe. I do not even know if there is any truth in it all."

The chilling catalogue of death follows a year long statistical investigation by the Department of Health in which it was found that his death rates were substantially higher than those of other general practitioners working in the same areas at the same times.

He certified 22 deaths in Todmorden, more than any of his colleagues. Deaths at the surgery went up by more than 30 per cent during his time there.

Seventeen of the certificates were signed during his last nine months at the surgery including three on one day in early 1975 and two on another.

Calder Valley MP Chris McCafferty said: "As painful as it is to relatives I think this is where he honed his skills in killing."