DISGRACED former Kidderminster Harriers star Lee Hughes has been allowed out of jail to finalise a contract with the club he is joining when he is released.

Hughes, regarded as one of the all-time greats at Aggborough for his goalscoring exploits in the mid 1990s, was let out of Featherstone Prison near Wolverhampton earlier this month to spend time with officials at League One side Oldham Athletic. The 31-year-old striker will join the Lancashire club at the start of the new football season if, as expected, he is released half way through his sentence for causing death by dangerous driving.

Reports in a national paper said the one time £5m Premiership star spent several hours finalising the deal after he was driven up north by a prison officer.

Hughes was jailed for six years in 2004 after his £100,000 Mercedes ploughed into a Renault Scenic on a country lane near Coveentry. The collision killed father of four Douglas Graham.

Hughes then went on the run for 36 hours before handing himself in.

Prior to the crash Hughes was a fans favourite at West Bromwich Albion, the club he supported as a boy. He had joined the Baggies from Harriers and had also spent a season at Coventry before rejoining Albion, when they were in the Premiership. Following Hughes's conviction the club cancelled his contract.