THE Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the proposed new Full Sutton prison is part of the 10,000 extra prison places promised by Boris Johnson.

In a newspaper article on tackling crime, the Prime Minister said the Government would be investing £2.5 billion in new jails.

But his plans were dismissed as aimed at “short-term political capital” by Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust.

Mr Johnson wrote: “We need to reverse the balance of fear. I want the criminals to be afraid - not the public.”

Following the article’s publication, the Ministry of Justice said 1,400 of the 10,000 places would be the proposed Category C prison to be built next to the maximum security prison already at Full Sutton in East Yorkshire.

The mega-jail proposal is strongly opposed by the local community.

Mr Dawson said of Mr Johnson’s article: “We have been here so often before - most recently with Michael Gove promising and failing to build 10,000 more prison spaces in 2016.

“Announcing more prisons to make short term political capital is evidence free policy making, diverting attention from the real problems facing our prison and justice systems.”