Lancashire prison to gain 240 extra places

14 Sep 2026 12:29 PM

HMP Lancaster Farms capacity boosted by more than 40 per cent as part of largest prison expansion programme since the Victorian era

• HMP Lancaster Farms adds four new houseblocks to keep streets safer
• Prison will see places go from 584 to more than 800
• Part of Government action to ensure country never runs out of jail space again

HMP Lancaster Farms will gain four new houseblocks, boosting its capacity by more than 40 per cent, in the latest Government step to lock up more dangerous criminals.

The prison will see places increase from 584 to 824, with cells equipped with modern security features such as reinforced windows to tackle threats like drones carrying contraband. Construction is due to finish by the end of the year.

A new workshop will also be added, providing prisoners with the training and skills they need to get a job on release and turn their backs on crime for good – helping to create safer streets and fewer victims.

The new houseblocks follow the recent signing of a contract paving the way for the first phase of works to begin on a new 1,700-place prison, also in the Lancashire region.

The new places are part of the largest prison expansion programme since the Victorian era, as the Government plans to add 14,000 extra spaces by 2031 to lock up dangerous criminals and keep the public safe.    

Catherine McKinnell, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, who visited the site this week, said:

This Government is fixing the prison crisis it inherited – building the prison places needed to protect the public and take dangerous criminals off our streets.

These new houseblocks at HMP Lancaster Farms are just the latest step in that work, with more than 3,300 places delivered across the country in little over two years.

They come equipped with modern security features to tackle threats like drones, alongside a new workshop to boost rehabilitation and ensure punishment cuts crime.

The Lancaster Farms expansion is part of decisive action taken by Government to ensure the country never again faces the nightmare of running out of prison spaces after net 500 places were added in fourteen years before July 2024.

Meanwhile, £110m is being invested to speed up the construction of hundreds of prison places. It will see existing space within prisons converted into cells to deliver much-needed capacity – including through unused office space, laundry rooms and storage areas. 

The Government has also recently set out changes to boost prison capacity through plans to remove foreign national offenders more quickly and end the historic injustice of Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences in a way that balances fairness and public safety.  

Notes to editors

• HMP Lancaster Farms is a Category C resettlement prison for adult men, serving the Northwest of England.
• The expansion at HMP Lancaster Farms forms part of the Small Secure Houseblocks Programme, which will deliver 1,080 new Category C prison places across six prison sites. It forms part of the Government’s £4.7 billion investment in prison building over the 2026/27 to 2029/30 spending review period.