A top prisons boss called for £20 million to be invested into Shrewsbury’s ageing and overcrowded Victorian jail over the next 10 years, a new report has revealed.

Michael Spurr, deputy director general of prisons, made the recommendation following a tour of The Dana prison. The independent monitoring board’s report to the Minister of Justice also claims the number of foreign prisoners at the jail is a concern.

It says this is because of difficulties in communicating with them.

The report, written by Bryan Foulkes, chairman of the board at HMP Shrewsbury, covers a period between April 2008 and April 2009.

Mr Foulkes said investment had already been ploughed into the prison following Mr Spurr’s visit in 2007, including a new gymnasium and repointing of the perimeter walls.

He said overall the prison was doing very well considering its constraints. But he sais the issue of foreign prisoners needed to be tackled.

The report says: “The relatively high number of foreign nationals (currently averaging 41) is a cause for concern, especially in the area of communication, translation facilities are highly expensive and time consuming. However, the Governor has taken some positive steps in purchasing IT programmes to assist in translating local documents into the 18 widely used foreign languages.

“The major Asian languages are difficult but asking religious leaders to translate has been most helpful. The number of foreign nationals continues to rise, giving cause for concern for their well-being especially in the light of their diverse needs.”

Mr Foulkes said the prison, which was last month named as the most overcrowded jail in the country for the second year running, said the area with the highest number of complaints received by prisoners regarded health matters.

By Russell Roberts