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| Shepton Mallet prison closure marked with special service | Shepton Mallet prison closure marked with special service |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A service is taking place later to mark the closure of the UK's oldest working prison. | A service is taking place later to mark the closure of the UK's oldest working prison. |
| The prison in Shepton Mallet was one of seven closures announced in January by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). | The prison in Shepton Mallet was one of seven closures announced in January by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). |
| The MoJ said it wants to drive down the cost of running "old and uneconomic" prisons and expects to save £63m per year. | The MoJ said it wants to drive down the cost of running "old and uneconomic" prisons and expects to save £63m per year. |
| Former staff will join the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Rt Rev Peter Price, and a military band at the service. | Former staff will join the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Rt Rev Peter Price, and a military band at the service. |
| Churches in Shepton Mallet will toll bells at noon - the expected time the staff will leave the prison for the final time. | |
| There has been a prison on the site, sometimes known as HMP Cornhill, since 1610. | There has been a prison on the site, sometimes known as HMP Cornhill, since 1610. |
| The 189 inmates of the category C Lifer Prison have all been re-located. | The 189 inmates of the category C Lifer Prison have all been re-located. |
| Most of those are serving life for murder, with the rest seeing out long sentences for serious sex offences. | Most of those are serving life for murder, with the rest seeing out long sentences for serious sex offences. |
| 'Huge loss' | |
| Howard Hardman, a former probation officer at the prison, said it was "a very sad decision". | |
| He said: "The point about Shepton Mallet - along with with Kingston prison at Portsmouth, which is one of the others that is being closed - is they were the top two performing prisons in the country according to the last round of HMI (Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons) inspections in 2010. | |
| "You don't create that very constructive rehabilitative type of environment overnight - it takes a lot of hard work by dedicated staff. | |
| "That's just been thrown away by disbanding the prison suddenly like this. | |
| "It has been a shock to the staff and I think it is a huge loss to the prison service." | |
| Some 1,177 members of staff work at the prisons that are closing. | |
| In a statement the MoJ said: "We are determined to drive down the cost of running our prisons, this is why we are replacing older accommodation that is expensive to run with newer, cheaper and more efficient accommodation that will provide better value for money. | |
| "We are working constructively with trade unions in order to avoid compulsory redundancies as far as possible." | |
| The future of the site is still being considered. |