Police seek use of prison for firearms training

Reading prison has been standing empty for over 10 years

A police force has submitted plans to use Reading prison temporarily for its firearms training.

Reading Borough Council said Thames Valley Police had applied to use the empty jail for scenario-based training for officers.

If it gets the go-ahead, up to 14 students and six firearms instructors could train at the site up to twice a week using blank rounds.

The council said the application by the force was set to be determined by 20 November.

In 2016 the prison opened to the public as part of an Artangel project

The temporary use between 08:00 - 16:00 would make use of the existing layout of the site and buildings, with no alterations proposed.

The training would be a a mixture of classroom and scenario-based training within the existing prison buildings.

It would supplement the police force's current training facilities at Sulhamstead.

The council said no additional police training would take place and the site would not be used for day-to-day policing purposes.

Ziran Education Foundation bought Reading prison, where celebrated Irish writer Oscar Wilde was once an inmate, from the Ministry of Justice for £7m in January.

Wilde was held between 1895 and 1897 and wrote about his experience in his poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

The charity's plans for the site include an educational centre incorporating a museum and exhibition space.

It is not the first time the former prison has been used as a temporary location. In 2016 it was used to host art exhibition by Artangel.

The jail has been empty ever since it formally closed in January 2014.