Preferred HMP Grampian jail builders named as Skanska

Peterhead Prison is due to be replaced in 2014 by HMP Grampian

The company expected to win the contract to build a new prison for the north east of Scotland has been named.

The new HMP Grampian jail, due to open in Peterhead in 2014, will hold about 500 inmates and replace the two older jails in Aberdeen and Peterhead.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said it intended to award the contract to Skanska Construction UK, probably in November.

The new prison would house both male and female inmates.