Shrewsbury prison tours company gets lease for another year

The move means the redevelopment of the prison to turn it into student accommodation, housing, a gym and a walled garden will not start until at least 2018.

Jailhouse Tours took over the prison in August 2015, initially on a 12-month agreement from owners The Osborne Group to operate tours and events. This was later extended to the end of 2016.

Now the owners have said that Jailhouse Tours can stay at the prison until the end of 2017.

As well as operating the 'world's most interactive prison tour', the prison has been the venue for a number of events including outdoor cinemas, laser combat, prison escapes, prison experience days, zombie events, a history day, overnight sleepovers, school and educational days, corporate training, hen/stag and birthday parties and a paintball event.

Production companies have used it for TV shows and there have been a number of paranormal investigations carried out.

The extension will see a number of changes over the next couple of months. This will include opening a small refreshments area called The Officers Mess in C Wing. Visitors can have food and drink served to them in their cells or on the landings of the haunted wing which housed female prisoners until 1923. Another change is that a small amount of serviced offices will be available to rent on a monthly basis within the prison walls.

The Jailhouse Tours team members are also planning to replicate their success and take over more prison sites.

Joel Campbell, founder of Click Cleeze Ltd, said: "We are in advance discussions with other developers, including the owners of Gloucester and Shepton Mallet Prison (which was built in 1610) to take over these sites and repeat the success we have had in Shrewsbury.

"We are also in the process of establishing and forming a charitable arm which will take over the museum section of our organisation and develop the country's largest and most comprehensive prison museum, which will be housed within our prison sites.

"Our team have been working with ex-prison governors, psychologists and officers to develop a new programme targeted at offenders who are on their last chance from the courts, before being sent to prison.

"The programme will take offenders and incarcerate them for 24 hours, to give them a taste of prison life.

"I'm really proud of everything my team and I have achieved over the past 14 months at the prison."