‘Squalid, depressing, beyond repair’ prison to close down

A PRISON condemned by inspectors as “squalid, demeaning and depressing” is to be the first to shut down in the UK for years.

Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, said HMP Hewell, in Worcestershire, which currently holds 209 prisoners in a converted 19th-century country house called The Grange, would be closed because it was “not fit for use”. A prison service spokesman said the “current condition is unacceptable and refurbishing it would not deliver value for the taxpayer”.

Last month, Peter Clarke, the chief inspector of prisons, said it had the worst conditions of any open prison (Category D) he had ever seen.

The Ministry of Justice said it was working “actively to avoid” compulsory or voluntary redundancies and did not think these would be necessary. The closure is expected to take place by March 2020.

Inmates not released before this time will be sent to other prisons. Some of them will probably be taken to HMP Haverigg in Cumbria, which is due to become an open prison later this year and set to double its capacity from 268 to 570. About 20 inmates were transferred yesterday.

In the report of his inspection, released last month, Mr Clarke said The Grange was “totally unacceptable”.

He said some of the cells were in an appalling condition with one “unfit for use, with exposed live wires and a broken toilet”. One of the waiting areas had prominent racist graffiti and what appeared to be blood on the walls.