Bids in for Shrewsbury's Dana prison
Buyers wanting to snap up the historic Dana prison have today lodged their bids.
Prospective buyers had until noon today to register their interest in the grade II-listed building, with several parties lodging bids by lunchtime.
Commercial property agents GVA confirmed that as of early this morning no bids had been received.
But by the deadline several offers were on the table, and the firm added last-minute bids were not uncommon on schemes such as this.
Andrew Moss, consultant at GVA, is preparing for a meeting in London with the Ministry Of Justice next week, where officials will run through any plans put forward.
The deadline for the sale of the Dana had already been extended from April 11, to coincide with the sale of other prisons around the country.
Mr Moss said: "Just recently we were waiting on bids for a similar site, and 16 came in just before the deadline.
"A number of people have indicated that they were interested in putting proposals forward but at this stage I am unable to say how many."
Mr Moss has given dozens of guided tours of the Dana to potential buyers after it closed in spring last year as part of a Government programme to close ageing and expensive jails, with more than 200 staff either taking redundancy or moving to other prisons in the region.
Various proposals have so far been discussed, with MP Daniel Kawczynski hoping someone from the local business community will come forward to buy the site.
Town mayor Jon Tandy has also spoken of his belief in the scheme, and hopes a local firm will take over.
