Details of 'Titan' jails unveiled

The current jail-building programme has a target of 96,000 prison places

Three giant "Titan" prisons may be designed to hold 400 fewer prisoners each than the 2,500 previously thought.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw said in a consultation paper that sites for the jails should be suitable for a capacity of at least 2,100 inmates.

However, capacity could be expanded to 2,500 through "planned overcrowding" - putting an extra prisoner in cells.

Prison groups such as the Prison Reform Trust, Nacro and the Howard League for Penal Reform are against the proposals.

'Rehabilitation opportunities'

The Ministry of Justice document shows the department is searching for sites of at least 50 acres for jails of four to five storeys, costing an estimated £350m each.

The initial likely locations for up to three Titan prisons were London, the West Midlands and the North West.

The plan was announced in December following Labour peer Lord Carter's recommendation for an extra 10,500 places in England and Wales in a review of prison overcrowding.

There is evidence, here and overseas, that giant institutions do not work Juliet Lyon Prison Reform Trust

The current jail-building programme has a target of a total of 96,000 prison places by 2014.

Prisons Minister David Hanson said: "We want Titan prisons to bring the resources we have to reduce reoffending together in one place.

"Our aim is to provide better value for money for the taxpayer and better opportunities to rehabilitate offenders so that they don't offend again.

"We have made clear from the outset these prisons will not be giant warehouses."

'Flexible design'

Organisations have been asked to comment in the consultation which ends on 28 August.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "Titans are intended to provide up to 2,500 prison places. This has not changed.

"Crowding refers to two prisoners being held in a one-person cell, or three in a cell for two.

"Titans will be designed and built with the flexibility to do this in mind."

Prison Reform Trust director Juliet Lyon called it a "blinkered consultation".

"There is evidence, here and overseas, that giant institutions do not work," she said.

Paul Cavadino, chief executive of crime reduction charity Nacro, said the government should use money to improve rather than extend the prison system.

Howard League for Penal Reform director Frances Crook said: "Titan prisons go against the overwhelming consensus in the criminal justice sector that small, local custodial institutions are the most effective at cutting reoffending."