HMP Lancaster Farms is to gain four new houseblocks, increasing its capacity by more than 40% – from 584 places to 824 – as part of the government’s ongoing prison building programme. Construction is due to finish by the end of the year.
The new cells will include modern security features such as reinforced windows, designed to tackle drones used to smuggle contraband into jails. A new workshop is also being added, intended to give prisoners training and skills to help them find work on release.
The expansion follows the recent signing of a contract to begin work on a separate new 1,700-place prison, also in Lancashire, and forms part of a wider £4.7 billion government programme aiming to deliver 14,000 additional prison places by 2031 – more than 3,300 of which have already been delivered since July 2024.