Prison to accommodate more inmates (From Watford Observer)

Prison in Bovingdon to accommodate more inmates

2:10pm Saturday 16th February 2013 in News By Ben Endley, Senior reporter

A prison in Bovingdon is to expand and take on more prisoners, amid plans to close seven prisons in England.

Following the announcement of prison closures in January, it has been proposed a mini prison will be built on the Mount Prison site to facilitate a share of prisoners.

The share of 1,260 prisoners will also be spread across three other prisons in South Wales, London and Cambridgeshire.

Although it has not yet been confirmed how many prisoners the Mount Prison will gain, the plans for houseblocks aim to alleviate the loss of 1,260 places from older prisons.

A statement from the Ministry of Justice said: "In total the houseblocks be able to hold up to 1,260 prisoners and they will replace older, more expensive prison capacity.

"The cost of holding a prisoner in an older prison is often more than twice as expensive as keeping them in a new one. Their modern design allows new prisons to operate in a significantly more efficient way, requiring less maintenance and general upkeep compared to older ones."

The programme is part of the government’s drive to update Britain’s prison estates, which is expected to save £63m per year in running costs.