Cavagin was serving a sentence for burglary

Police revealed that Carl Cavagin, who was due to be released from HMP Sudbury in December but escaped on 10 October, may be in the Stoke-on-Trent area.

A Derbyshire Police spokesman said: "The Prison Service tells us no one in an open prison is a danger.

"Prisoners regularly abscond... we do not have a policy of releasing details of every prisoner," he added.

'Alert surrounding forces'

Officials at HMP Sudbury reported Cavagin as missing to Derbyshire Police at 2130 BST on 10 October when he failed to appear for role call an hour earlier.

The force informed Staffordshire Police within an hour of being notified by the prison, the spokesman said.

"We alert surrounding forces where we know they have contacts but not all details are released to the public.

"We contacted Staffordshire Police immediately for them to make their enquiries... because the offence was committed in Staffordshire."

The 26-year-old burglar had been transferred from HMP Stafford.

He is 6ft 1ins, medium build with blue eyes and thinning brown hair. He has a north east accent and has several tattoos on both arms.