HMP Guys Marsh: Fire-damaged prison block to be demolished

Sections of the site may contain asbestos which will need to be carefully removed, structural engineers have said

A prison block that was damaged by fire during a rooftop protest almost five years ago is to be demolished ahead of a revamp of the site.

The blaze in March 2017 caused up to £20m worth of damage at HMP Guys Marsh, near Shaftesbury in Dorset.

Demolition work is expected to start in the first week of December, continuing until the end of March.

The Ministry of Justice said the land would then be used as a sports pitch as part of the prison's expansion plans.

Nigel Saunders, the prisoner who caused the fire by setting light to his clothing, was jailed for seven years in August 2017.

The block, which is one of five in the middle of the site, was declared structurally unsafe and secured from the rest of the site with corrugated sheet fencing, following the blaze.

A structural engineer's report said the block had remained untouched, was unsafe and would need a specialist demolition team to bring it down safely, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Sections of the site may contain asbestos which will need to be carefully removed.

"No works have been undertaken to shore or make safe the damaged sections of the building," the report said.

"In the interim, the building has suffered notably from water ingress and degradation resulting in further instability."

Photographs submitted to Dorset Council show the extent of the damage caused by the fire, with personal possessions still littering the site

Part of that damage is thought to have been caused by an overflowing water tank in the roof.

The approval for demolition includes removing a redundant sports pavilion, workshop and portacabins.

In addition to the new sports pitch, the prison plans to build two new two-storey blocks - one with 120 cells, the other with 60, a new workshop and office accommodation and a control and restraint block.