Road-rage killer Kenneth Noye is to be transferred to an open prison after the Justice Secretary rubber-stamped a recommendation from the Parole Board.
Noye, now 70, was convicted of murder in April 2000 and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years, after stabbing 21-year-old electrician Stephen Cameron to death in an attack on the M25 in Kent in 1996.
Last month the Parole Board said it was not directing Noye's release, but recommended that he be transferred to "open conditions".
The advice was passed to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for the final decision, and the department confirmed on Tuesday that Justice Secretary David Lidington had accepted the recommendation.
An MoJ spokesman said: "Public protection is our top priority and transfers to open conditions are made after a thorough, expert risk assessment carried out by the independent Parole Board."
In September 2015 the Parole Board recommended Noye be moved to an open jail, but this was blocked by then justice secretary Michael Gove.
Earlier this year Noye won a High Court challenge against the refusal decision, which his counsel argued was "unlawful and irrational".
One of Britain's most notorious criminals, Noye had been jailed for handling bullion stolen in the infamous 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery and was released two years before the M25 attack.
He went on the run after killing Mr Cameron and was arrested in Spain in 1998.
A plan will now be drawn up for the timing of the transfer, which is expected to take place within six weeks, while officials will also weigh up which establishment Noye will be moved to.
Open prisons have lower security than "closed" jails.
Transfers from higher security categories to open conditions are generally part of a long-term path towards release, depending on the prisoner's progress in a number of areas.
Offenders' suitability for returning to the community are tested by exposing them to conditions more similar to those they would encounter on the outside.
Noye would be assessed again by the Parole Board before he can be released.