Hundreds of prisoners from north Wales are sent to Altcourse

Meirionnydd Nant Conwy MP Elfyn Llwyd has said the Prison Service has accepted there is a need for a jail to serve north and mid Wales.

Prisoners from the area are currently detained in institutions outside Wales.

Mr Llwyd said he favoured opening a jail in the Blaenau Ffestiniog area of Gwynedd, but he said local people should be consulted about the move first.

Gwynedd Council has revealed it is discussing the possibility of setting up a jail with the Prison Service but stressed that talks are at a 'very early stage'.

A spokeswoman said: "We are waiting for the Prison Service to provide us with guidelines on what kind of site would be suitable.

"It is possible that no such site is available in Gwynedd," she added.

It would be useful if these people were remanded in our area, both for their families and for our work Matthew Driver, North Wales Probation Service

However, a Prison Service spokesperson said there were currently no plans to build a prison in north Wales.

"We are in regular touch with local authorities about what might be available and are grateful for the contribution they make to the Prison Service," she said.

She refused to comment on what Elfyn Llwyd had said.

It was reported last week that Home Secretary, David Blunkett, had secured �200m to build at least two new jails holding up to 850 prisoners each.

Although calls have been made for a prison in north Wales before, Mr Llwyd said the situation had changed and that there was now a "proven need".

"The Home Office and the Prison Service would need there to be about 550 serving prisoners from north and mid Wales to make a prison viable - there are currently between 600 and 700," he said.

More and more people were being sent to prison and Mr Blunkett now had money to spend on new prisons, said Mr Llwyd.

He added he believed it would make more sense for a new jail to be situated in the Meirionnydd area.

It would be the best location for cutting journey times for families visiting inmates from across north Wales.

Elfyn Llwyd MP favours Meirionnydd as a site for new prison

The area had 'several brown field sites' for development as well as suitable rail links, he said.

Most prisoners from north Wales are currently sent to Liverpool's Altcourse Prison. Four hundred inmates from across the region are housed there.

Matthew Driver, Assistant Chief Probation Officer for north Wales, said a prison in Gwynedd would make their work much easier as well as benefit inmates' families.

"It would be useful if these people were remanded in our area, both for their families and for our work with them in the pre-sentence stage," he said.

"It would also be much better if those coming to the end of a long sentence could be released back into the community from a prison in their area."