PRISON officials have scotched claims that Dorchester’s jail may shut under a new review.

They said that a document called Vision For Estate was out of date and that no decisions had been made about the prison estate.

Former prison governor Derek Julian, who started his career at Dorchester, also warned against any thoughts of dispensing with the jail.

The comments come after reports over the weekend claimed that Vision For Estate revealed that Dorchester would close and a new prison would be built in South Dorset.

Mr Julian, aged 76, who lives in Weymouth, was acting governor at Pentonville and Holloway prisons during his 40-year career.

He said: “I would be against Dorchester closing.

“The way the government would do it would be to sell the site to a developer for the land.

“Then they’d get a private firm to build the prison and run it, to save the government money.

“I’m against privatisation of prisons. It’s all about money-making but in the long-run it’s not cost effective.

“It also means that the skills are not there because the training is dumbed down.”

He added: “We have learned that we can’t trust politicians and bankers.

“Experience has shown that politicians get things wrong.

“It’s a tough job being a prison officer.

“They get a raw deal and people don’t realise how tough a job they have.”

Dorchester Prison, in North Square, is a Victorian jail but it is due to have a new health care extension added.

Reports claimed that the confidential government report suggested Dorchester, Exeter and Dartmoor may be shut as modernisation was urgently needed.

It said the document suggests new jail could be built in South Dorset and east Cornwall.

The Prison Service said that Vision For Estate was a six-months-old draft document which did not represent the present government’s position.

A spokesman said: “No decision has been made about prison closures.”

He added that the service was examining prison population and capacity issues.

“We will look in detail over the coming months at the sentencing frameworks for offenders, as well as the full range of penalties available in the criminal justice system.

“This means introducing more effective policies, as well as overhauling the system of rehabilitation to reduce re-offending.

“We will take time to get it right and will consult widely before bringing forward coherent plans for reform.

“Long-term decisions on prison capacity programmes will be taken in the light of these policy developments.

“We will ensure that we meet prison capacity requirements more efficiently to improve value for money for the taxpayer and contribute savings to help reduce the budget deficit.”