LONDON gangster "Mad" Frankie Fraser has died in hospital, according to one of his former cohorts.

The enforcer, who spent 42 years in prison, died following an operation on his leg.

South London gangland boss Eddie Richardson, who described Fraser as an "old acquaintance", said: "He's had a long life and I don't think he's done too bad. He had Alzheimer's for about three years, so I don't think he knew what day it was."

The late "Mad" Frankie Fraser was never sure how he got the middle name Davidson. His father was plain old James Fraser, he once said, puzzled. But his other moniker, "The Dentist", now, that made more sense. Over a criminal career spanning decades, the notorious gangland enforcer earned a reputation for pulling out his rivals' teeth. In his heyday, word on the streets of London's East End was that Fraser carried a pair of pliers in his top pocket as a warning to the loose-lipped.

Fraser, who died yesterday at the age of 90, spent nearly half his life in prison for violence and was an associate of notorious crime families the Krays and the Richardsons.

The gangster claimed to have spent time in every prison in the country, including the infamous mental hospital Broadmoor.

Born in 1923 in Cornwall Road, the baby of his family, Fraser found his calling early in life.

"I began stealing early on and bringing it home, saying I'd found £1 or £2," he said.