Josef Fritzl confesses to 'addiction'

He also said that he locked his daughter Elisabeth in a cellar dungeon to protect her from the outside world.

Mr Fritzl made the statement to his lawyer Rudolf Mayer, which was passed on to the Austrian magazine News.

Mr Fritzl said he tried to care for Elisabeth and her children by taking them flowers, toys and books.

He fathered seven children with his daughter - one of whom died when very young, three of whom were kept imprisoned in his cellar, and three others who went on to live with Mr Fritzl as his adopted or fostered children.

Elisabeth has told police that her father started sexually abusing her when she was 11.

In conversations with his lawyer Mr Fritzl admitted repeatedly raping Elisabeth, now 42, on visits to the cellar. "I knew Elisabeth didn't want me to do what I did to her. I knew that I was hurting her. It was like an addiction... In reality, I wanted children with her."

"I knew the whole time that what I was doing was not right, that I must be mad for doing such a thing. But despite this, at the same time it became completely matter-of-fact for me that I had a second life, which I led in the cellar of my house."

He insisted he still loved his wife, Rosemarie, with whom he has seven children.

"Since I can remember, it was my innermost wish to have lots of children - and I considered Rosemarie to be the suitable mother," he said. "The fact is I loved her and I still love her."