February 2, 2011 11.28 am This story is over 157 months old

Lincoln prison to cram in more inmates

Busy prison: Lincoln prison is set to potentially take on hundreds more prisoners in one wing.

Lincoln prison is set to take on up to 200 more inmates from across Lincolnshire, despite being known as one of the country’s most overcrowded facilities.

Officials have reportedly said that in one of the prison’s four wings, a “community prison model” would be operated.

This means that inmates would get help getting an education, training and help with employment after leaving prison, as well as closer contact with families.

The news comes after a local women’s prison is set to change use to a detention centre, where 392 inmates were housed.

The Lincoln Prison was opened in 1872, and consists of 436 cells across four wings, with a segregation unit and in-patient healthcare.

The prison has regularly been noted overcrowded and as recently as 2010, inmates were sharing cells designed for one.

A recent error in translation also labeled an exercise yard as an “execution yard” in an information leaflet for Russian inmates.

Related Report: BBC Lincolnshire