Communist Vietnam freed disgraced British "glam rock" rock star Gary Glitter yesterday after nearly three years in prison for sexually abusing two underage Vietnamese girls, his lawyer said.

Gary Glitter, 64, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was arrested in November 2005 at Ho Chi Minh City airport as he tried to leave the country. He was sentenced to three years in jail at a one-day trial where he pleaded not guilty.

"My client is a free man now but he will be escorted straight to the airport to go back to London. He should arrive there by tomorrow," Gary Glitter's lawyer, Le Thanh Kinh, told Reuters by telephone from Ho Chi Minh City.

Gary Glitter was whisked away from Thu Duc prison, 190 kilometres north of Ho Chi Minh City, in a police jeep with blacked-out windows to the frustrations of British tabloid journalists gathered at its gates.

Mr Kinh said Vietnamese police would only give the singer his passport at immigration in Ho Chi Minh City.

"He doesn't have much luggage," he said.

Gary Glitter is expected to fly to London via Bangkok where immigration police have said he will be turned back as an undesirable if he tries to enter Thailand.

His conviction was upheld on appeal, but his sentence was reduced by three months on grounds of good behaviour. Jail time was counted from the date of his arrest in November 2005.

State media reported last week he had been doing chores at a prison clinic, which sits in the province next to Ba Ria-Vung Tau where he molested two 11-year-old girls while living in a villa.

He rose to fame in the 1970s with a bouffant hairstyle, make-up, high heels and "glam rock" stage performances. His hits included Rock and Roll (Parts 1 & 2) and I Love You Love Me Love, Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) and I'm the Leader of Gang (I am).