Wrexham super-prison recruitment drive starts

Wrexham's new prison will be the UK's largest

The recruitment drive for prison officers to work in Wrexham's new £212m super-prison is to start.

About 80 people will be taken on initially to work at the jail, which is due to open in February 2017. More officers and support staff will be taken on over the coming year.

Four sessions will be held in Wrexham for people to learn more about the job and how to apply.

All staff will receive extensive training, including a 10-week course.

They will also spend time in other prisons across England and Wales, said the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), which will be running the jail.

The prison will house 2,106 offenders, which will make it the UK's largest.

Russ Trent, who will be governor of the prison, said: "People often don't know what skills are needed to be a prison officer - they may think it is only about locking people up - and these events are to help people realise that often the life skills they have are perfect for the job."

The events are at Glyndwr University at 10:00 and 14:00 GMT on Saturday, 7 November and at Wrexham Memorial Hall at 14:30 and 19:00 on Wednesday, 18 November.