Prisons have just 238 spaces left as early releases begin

FEWER than 250 spaces are left in men’s jails in England and Wales, The Telegraph can reveal, as the Justice Secretary sanctioned the biggest early release scheme from prisons in nearly 20 years.

Alex Chalk announced emergency measures to release hundreds of burglars, shoplifters and violent criminals up to 60 days early to tackle the crisis.

He also unveiled plans to slash the number of foreign prisoners – now standing at over 10,000 – by refusing tourist visa applications from countries that fail to take back their criminals earmarked for deportation.

He also confirmed plans to allow foreign shoplifters, thieves and drug dealers to be deported rather than prosecuted.

The moves came as figures obtained by The Telegraph showed male prisons were 99.7 per cent full, with just 238 spaces left out of an operational capacity of 85,000. Women’s jails are 96.9 per cent full with just 118 spaces left.

A prison service source said: “It is dire. It means the prison system could not handle an incident that put a lot of people in custody or if there was a riot in a jail. Who knows whether it can sustain the normal operation of the courts sending offenders to jail?”

As revealed by The Telegraph last week, Mr Chalk has approved the release of prisoners up to 35 days before they were scheduled to be freed, doubling the current time of 18 days.

Ministers have accepted the prospect of prisons overflowing so great that prisons will have an option to increase it to 60 days, and potentially more.

It is estimated that some 40,000 prisoners are eligible under the current early release scheme, which covers offenders on fixed sentences who would normally be released automatically halfway through their jail terms.

Sex offenders, convicted terrorists, category A prisoners and all violent offenders serving four or more years are excluded. Violent offenders serving under four years are eligible, as are burglars, shoplifters and fraudsters serving any length of fixed-term sentence.

Prison places could run out within weeks as courts ramp up cases and prosecutions are set to increase following the uplift of 20,000 police officers.