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Lancaster Farms could be increased in size if plans for new buildings to house an extra 120 inmates are approved.

The prison’s capacity could rise from 549 to 669 inmates, with the Ministry of Justice citing a need for extra prison places is a key factor behind the plans.

However, Sports England has objected to the proposed removal of the prison’s current outdoor playing facilities and replacement with a smaller seven-a-side multi-sports surface elsewhere on the site.

The Ministry of Justice wants to build two new house blocks at the site, along with a workshop and storage buildings.

Lancaster Farms. Photo: MACE/Ministry of Justice report to Lancaster City Council

The prison currently employs 488 people, which could rise to 494.

A Ministry of Justice planning report states: “The [national] prison population is forecast to increase over the next 10 years, reaching unprecedented levels by the end of the decade.

"This rise is being driven by government policy decisions to reform the criminal justice system (e.g. the impact of 23,000 more police officers and recent changes to sentencing), on top of an ongoing increase in the number of long-sentenced offenders.

“The ministry and its executive agency, HM Prisons & Probation Service, are embarking on the most ambitious initiative of prison expansion in over a century, delivering 20,000 additional prison places through projects representing an investment of £3.8 billion.

The application site at Lancaster Farms. Photo: Ministry of Justice

"These projects will offer the taxpayer value for money and also support suppliers and builders across the country.”

Lancaster Farms opened in 1993 as a purpose-built prison. It has previously been a young offenders’ institution and remand centre hosting juvenile prisoners, but in 2014 was re-roled to hold category-C adult male prisoners from the north west.

The prison provides residents with the opportunity to develop so they can find work and resettle back into society following release.

A Lancaster City Council planning report states: “The development will provide additional prison places to meet the significant need for the additional prison capacity.

“Consideration has been given to the potential impact of the development including on highways, landscape and visual receptors and flood risk and drainage. The issue of the impact on existing playing pitches has also been afforded appropriate consideration.”

Planning officers are recommending councillors approve the plans when they meet on Monday November 6 at Morecambe Town Hall.

Expansion plan could see 120 extra inmates at Lancaster Farms