A week-long inspection of Norwich prison has been completed.Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons visited the Knox Road jail for a surprise inspection last week.

A week-long inspection of Norwich prison has been completed.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons visited the Knox Road jail for a surprise inspection last week. The full report will be published at a later date but the inspection provided an opportunity to assess how the jail's new A-wing, opened in August last year, is operating.

Governor Paul Baker said that the inspectors were pleased the new wing had opened, replacing a dilapidated Victorian block. They also commented on a move to integrate adults with young offenders over the age of 18, saying it appeared to have made the prison safer.

Concerns were raised about the prison's ability to keep all 767 prisoners occupied now that the jail's population had increased with the opening of the new wing.

Mr Baker said: 'I was very pleased overall with the chief inspector's assessment of where she thought we were in terms of developing the prison.

'We have put a lot of hard work into trying to improve Norwich and lose our tag of a 'failing prison'. We seem to have achieved this with this report, but there remains a lot of hard work to do.

'There are improvements we need to make in education provision, and in addressing the concerns and needs of young black prisoners in particular.

'However it feels that now we have fundamentally changed the way the prison works, that we are much more able to release prisoners back into the community who are less likely to commit crime - this is what we are all about, because it will mean safer communities for those in Norfolk and the surrounding areas.'