Shrewsbury's Dana prison gearing up for tourists

Jailhouse Tours, which will be operating the prison for 12 months from the start of August, will be starting its tours of the historic building on August 8.

Tickets for the tours are now on sale and Joel Campbell, owner of Jailhouse tours, said they were excited to be in a position to begin.

He said: "We are thrilled to have a date booked in and ready to open. To be in a position where we can get the tours open is great. It has been quite a quick process from our initial announcement to having a date confirmed for opening."

Mr Campbell said the tours would be two hours long and would be running four times a day throughout the summer holidays.

He explained that people would be given a taste of the prisoner experience as they are guided around the building.

He said: "We have actually lengthened the tours to two hours because the site is just too big. There was too much to get in. The tours will still take the route where you are guided around from the entrance by a prison officer. He will take you through the induction process, through the wings, out onto the yards, into the kitchens and the other cell blocks.

"People will also get to see the visitation rooms, the chapel, the works unit, and then we will loop back round and finally finish in the old execution room."

People will also have to follow procedure before they are allowed out of the prison.

Mr Campbell said: "Before they are allowed to leave they will have to put forward their name and prison number and ask to leave in the same way that prisoners would have had to ask to leave."

Ghost tours, which will last for two-and-a-half hours, and will take place at night, will begin from August 15.

A number of other events are planned for the prison over the coming months with "escape" activities and school tours.

The prison is owned by the Osborne Group and earlier this month its chairman, Trevor Osborne, said he is committed to redeveloping the site along the theme of "Shrewsbury's Walled Garden".

Mr Osborne has previously said he intends to convert the prison's cell blocks into accommodation for students.

Tickets for tours of the prison cost £15 for adults, £9.50 for children, and £13 for concessions, and can be booked at www.jailhousetours.com/#! bookings/c13mk