THE governor of Preston Prison has hit back at a new report which puts it among the top five most crowded prisons in the country.

Richard Crouch claims the report was based on inaccurate data and rather than being seriously overcrowded, the prison is just 'very busy'.

According to the Penal Affairs Consortium - an amalgamation of groups interested in the prison system - Preston Prison is more than 50 per cent over crowded.

But Mr Crouch said the facts were vastly exaggerated and the true figure is nearer 15 per cent.

Preston Prison has an average accommodation of 407 prisoners and on Monday morning there were 458 men locked up in the cells. According to Home Office figures, the maximum operational capacity for the prison is 469 so it is operating within reasonable limits at the moment.

Mr Crouch said: "We are very busy. We are one of the busiest local prisons in that we receive and move out a large number of prisoners every day. We service the courts."

The prison has received a lot of bad publicity as a result of the report in both national newspapers and on radio and TV. But Mr Crouch says he is not alarmed.

He said: "The report was based on a relatively small local prison but we are in fact a medium sized prison and we take in prisoners from all over Lancashire and some from the Cumbria."

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