Reading Prison: Final chance for Oscar Wilde jail art hub, MP says

Matt Rodda said turning the empty prison into an arts centre is an "important opportunity"

An MP has said there is a "final chance" to transform a empty jail that once held Oscar Wilde into an arts hub.

Matt Rodda, who represents Reading East, said the borough council's bid to buy Reading's former prison is an "important opportunity to do something amazing".

But the Labour MP said he was "disappointed" the Ministry of Justice has a preferred commercial bidder.

The government previously said it had no updates on the sale.

It has previously been reported the empty prison costs more than £250,000 a year to maintain

Mr Rodda's comments followed a "frank and amicable" discussion on Monday between him, Alok Sharma, who represents Reading West, and prisons minister Damian Hinds.

After the meeting he said: "There is a final chance to try to save the jail and turn it into an arts and heritage hub, rather than it being developed in a more commercial way."

Reading Borough Council has bid for the jail site, Mr Rodda said, and it has not yet been rejected by the Ministry of Justice.

He continued: "We're going to try to rally all the arts and heritage groups to try one more time to persuade the ministry to consider them seriously.

"I am disappointed with the Ministry of Justice's approach, and I think we need to try and look at an alternative, an arts-based alternative."

Oscar Wilde was imprisoned after his affair with Lord Alfred Douglas was exposed

Irish poet and playwright Wilde spent two years at the prison between 1895 and 1897, after being convicted of gross indecency for being gay, and immortalised his time there in The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

The building has previously been described as a "Mecca" for LGBT people as a result, and celebrities including Hollywood actress Kate Winslet and Sir Kenneth Branagh added their voices to a campaign for it to be turned into a theatre venue.

Banksy pledged £10m towards the arts plan in 2021, which also received the endorsement of numerous celebrities.

The Ministry of Justice has previously rejected the plan and said it wanted to "seek [the] best value for taxpayers".