Demolition work for jail starts next year

Linzi Watson Published 31 Oct 2012 12:30 1 Comment

DEMOLITION work on the former Greenock High School will start in July to make way for new national women's prison HMP Inverclyde.

It was confirmed this week that the 60 million jail - originally planned as a replacement for Greenock's Gateside Prison - will become a 'custom made' facility to replace Cornton Vale, near Stirling.

This means that Gateside will now stay open for male prisoners, making Greenock a two-prison town.

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said that the site of the new HMP Inverclyde, pictured, which is currently occupied by the decanted St Columba's High School, will become vacant at the end of the school year in July.

He added: "After this we can begin demolition work.

"There will be some alterations to the design of the new prison to make it suitable as a female-only facility."

In an announcement on made Monday, justice secretary Kenny MacAskill announced that the new HMP Inverclyde will house high-risk and long-term female offenders.

The specialist jail is likely to have a mother-and-baby unit, plus a separate unit for young women and appropriate medical facilities. A spokesman for the SPS told the Telegraph that as a 'medium term' solution to the change of plan, both prisons will operate in the town for a number of years.

He added: "I would expect to see both Gateside and HMP Inverclyde open in 2016 with the two prisons continuing to operate in the town for some time to come.

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Demolition work for jail starts next year