Work gets under way on £713 million prison

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER VISITS SITE IN TOUGH WEEK FOR UK’S JAILS

- By DYLAN HAYWARD

GROUND has been broken on a £713 million prison.

Deputy prime minister David Lammy visited the site on Thursday to mark the start of construction on the 1,700-place HMP Welland Oaks, which will be built alongside HMP Gartree.

The main prison compound will comprise 14 buildings.

The plan for the category B prison was unanimously rejected by Harborough District Council's planning committee in April 2022, with councillors raising concerns about bus routes, prisoner numbers and staffing.

Campaigners had argued that the roads around Gartree are not suitable for such a big increase in traffic.

However, following an appeal by the Ministry of Justice in June that year, the then-Secretary of State Michael Gove overruled his planning inspector's recommendation to reject the scheme.