RESIDENTS in a quiet village on the outskirts of York have told of their shock and bemusement - after it emerged one of their former sons was an infamous mass murderer.

The Press reported yesterday on a new book, which has revealed details of a reign of terror inflicted in London during the Blitz by by the ‘Blackout Ripper,’ Gordon Cummins.

He strangled and mutilated four women in four days and tried to murder two others before being caught and later hanged, said the book, Scenes Of Murder: Then And Now. He had finally been caught out after leaving a gas mask, with his air force number, in a doorway when interrupted in his attack on another woman.

Cummins was said to have been born in York on February 18, 1914, and lived there before moving away in his teens.

A birth certificate obtained by The Press has now showed that he was born in Western Terrace, New Earswick - the model village created by Joseph Rowntree - to Amelia Cummins and assistant schoolmaster John Cummins.

Residents and a local historian were unanimous yesterday in saying: “It’s news to us.”

Tom Bardy, 21, who has lived in New Earswick since he was two, said: “It’s very surprising. I didn’t know anything about this. I’m a bit shocked.”

Barbara Hemingway, who had lived in the village since 1973, had heard nothing about Cummins either. “I didn’t know anything about it.”

Historian Colin Carr, who in 2010 wrote New Earswick Revisited, a detailed history of the community and its origins as a garden village, created by the businessman and philanthropist Joseph Rowntree, said he was amazed by the revelation.

“It’s the first I have heard about it,” he said. “It’s certainly out of character for New Earswick!” He added that he might now include details of the killer when he brought out a fresh edition of his book in a year or two.