Wellingborough Prison: G4S awarded £300m contract to run 'mega jail'

The new prison will cater for 1,680 inmates and is due to open in 2022

A £300m contract to run a new "mega prison" for the next 10 years has been won by G4S.

The Category C jail in Wellingborough cost £253m to build and will house 1,680 inmates.

The contract award comes despite a rival bidder entering a legal challenge against a decision to name G4S as its preferred choice in July.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said G4S-managed prisons "brought innovative new approaches to rehabilitation".

G4S was named as the MoJ's preferred choice for the contract earlier this year, but confirmation of the decision was delayed after rival MTC challenged it.

On Tuesday, Prisons Minister Lucy Frazer confirmed G4S would manage the new prison until 2032.

Set to open in early 2022, it is the long term successor of Wellingborough Prison which closed in 2012.

The prison will be named HMP Five Wells, in recognition of a group of historic wells which surround the site, and will create 700 jobs.

The new facility replaces the former prison in Wellingborough which closed in 2012

In 2018, G4S was stripped of its contract to run Birmingham Prison.

The jail was taken under state control following a damning report detailed scenes likened to a war zone in which inmates walked around "like zombies".

However, four other prisons run by the company - Altcourse, Parc, Rye Hill and Oakwood - have won praise from inspectors.

The MoJ said 95% of scores of jails managed by G4S show their performance as good or reasonably good.

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Ms Frazer said the move "marks another step forward in delivering the government's ambitious transformation of the prison system".

The move was also welcomed by the leader of the Borough Council of Wellingborough, Martin Griffiths, who said it would bring a "huge boost to the economy".

The MoJ spokesman said: "G4S-managed prisons have also brought innovative new approaches to offender rehabilitation, including a cutting-edge families intervention programme and peer-led initiatives."