Stoke Heath prison remains running at near capacity
Shropshire’s only prison remains running at near capacity, latest figures show.
Ministry of Justice stats show Stoke Heath Prison, near Market Drayton, is about 99 per cent full.
The prison has an operational capacity of 782 and as of September it housed 772 prisoners.
Figures for July showed it housed 765 prisoners – about 98 per cent full.
Figures also show many prisons across the UK are effectively full and almost all prisons in the Midlands are housing more prisoners than they were designed for.
Record levels of violence behind bars nationally, including a 20 per cent increase in assaults in the past year, have been seen.
