Bids invited as Shrewsbury's Dana Prison goes up for sale
Shropshire's former Dana Prison has been put up for sale for an undisclosed price.
Bids are being invited for the Grade II listed building in Shrewsbury, the Ministry of Justice confirmed today.
The prison closed in spring last year as part of a Government programme to shut ageing and expensive jails, with more than 200 staff either taking redundancy or moving to other prisons in the region.
It has now emerged the site is now being advertised for sale to prospective private developers.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "The former HMP Shrewsbury site is currently for sale and we are liaising with a number of organisations about the future use of the site, including the local authority and English Heritage."
The MoJ said it would be not be revealing what price the former jail is on sale for, due to commercial confidentiality reasons. The prison building and grounds, which cover a 2.5 hectare site, were advertised for sale in Estate Gazette earlier this month.
The former jail is also being advertised on Site Match UK, a specialist website for property developers, public sector landowners and planners.
The advert said the former jail is "capable of accommodating a range of alternative uses in planning terms".
It said an ongoing viability appraisal of the site is taking place, with the buildings part of a wider area identified for potential redevelopment in the next few years.
Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski said today he hoped a local business could be involved with taking the prison on.
"If the person is local I will try and negotiate the most reasonable rate with the Ministry of Justice. It needs someone who knows, lives, and breathes Shrewsbury."
Shropshire Council bosses today said it would "inappropriate" to comment further now the site was up for sale.
