Blueprint for Shrewsbury's Dana revamp 'imminent'

Trevor Osborne said he expects his plans to transform the site into a mixed use venue – which will include student accommodation, gym and leisure facilities and even a 200-seat open air amphitheatre – to be submitted to Shropshire Council before Christmas.

Currently all that stands in the way of lodging the planning application are car parking and transport reports.

Mr Osborne said the plans are "exciting" for the town.

He said: "Putting this historic site to sustainable use will be just marvellous. After all, we don't want another Flax Mill.

"In the event of having the reports ready by next week, the plans will be up."

As well as the open air amphitheatre, Mr Osborne has a range of other ideas for the former prison site including 120 units of student accommodation, a 45-bedroom hotel, conversion of the gatehouse and offices into 20 flats, a gym and fitness centre, as well as other leisure facilities including a restaurant and café, retail units and potential workspaces.

One of the significant developments would also be the creation of a walled garden and large areas of green space.

Last month Mr Osborne unveiled his plans to more than 65 Castlefields residents where it was standing room only at a meeting at Castlefields Community Hall.

The response from Castlefields residents was mainly positive, however concerns were expressed in regards to some aspects including the impact the facilities would have on parking and traffic in the area.

Currently the former prison site is run by Jailhouse Tours who operate it as a tourist attraction.

Since opening to the public for tours and activities in the summer, more than 6,000 people have taken a look around the former prison.

The Grade II-listed building in Shrewsbury has been open to the public for just over three months and during that time a wide range of activities, events and tours has been introduced.

There have been day tours, night tours, ghost hunting, private bookings, paintballing and zombie runs.