For Bill (77), who is currently on hunger strike, wants his ashes to be delivered to Nottingham City Council and Notts County Council after his death.

The demand is part of a funeral plan, which he has arranged with the Age Concern organisation.

Bill, now of Maltby Close, Aspley has staged a long-standing protest against the city and county councils for "putting money before people" in care of the elderly mentally ill.

The two authorities were responsible for the care of his wife, Maureen, who had Alzheimer's disease.

She was a resident of Lowmoor Home at Kirkby-in-Ashfield up to her death last December at the age of 64.

But he says it was cruel to keep Maureen alive for so long after contracting the disease. At one stage, he wanted to kill her himself to put her out of her misery.

"My funeral plan proves that my campaign will not die with me," says Bill. "It is a shot from beyond the grave."

Since Bill began his hunger strike earlier this year, his weight has fallen by nearly a stone.

He says: "There is nothing left in life for me without my beautiful wife. I am not afraid to die and I am determined to see this through.

"I have nothing at all to lose and my death just means that I will be reunited with Maureen."

Bill had a phone-call this week from a council officer who had heard about his hunger strike and asked if he planned to do "something silly".

He stresses: "Under no circumstances can anyone look forward to Bill Starr cutting his throat. I am just letting nature take its course."

A former resident of Curtis Street in Hucknall and an ex-miner at Newstead Colliery, Bill says: "People with Alzheimer's deserve better care than they are getting and I want to highlight their plight. It is too late for my wife but I can help others."

In January 2007, the Dispatch exclusively reported that Bill went to the Lowmoor Home with the intention of killing Maureen.

He was afterwards banned by the two councils from visiting her without supervision. As part of a high-profile campaign to make voluntary euthanasia legal, he has even written to the Queen.