PRISONERS are being moved out of Dartmoor Prison after it was shut down due to ‘dangerously high levels’ of the radioactive radon gas — the local MP is now seeking assurances on the facility’s future.

The Ministry of Justice said that 175 prisoners currently incarcerated are being moved to other prisons.

The first prisoners were moved out of the prison in Princetown on Thursday, July 18, with the evacuation due to be completed in two weeks.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) confirmed 40 prisoners were being moved at a time.

A South West POA spokesperson said: “It has been announced that due to dangerously high levels of radon on the landings at Dartmoor, it will be getting temporarily closed with immediate effect. They will start decanting the 175 prisoners tomorrow, 40 at a time, aiming for a total decant by the end of the month.

“Staff were informed yesterday and will be temporarily redeployed to other prisons in the area. There will be no compulsory redundancies and they hope to have a quote for remedial work within the next four weeks.”

This comes as the new government looks to push legislation through the commons in the next few weeks to release prisoners early to ease overcrowding in prisons.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our prisons are in crisis. This is the most recent illustration of why this Government was forced, in its first week, to take urgent action to release pressure on the estate. It is also why we are committed to building new prison places to lock up the most dangerous offenders and protect the public.

“Public safety will always be this government’s priority. After close monitoring of the situation at HMP Dartmoor, the prison is being temporarily closed and around 175 offenders are being moved to elsewhere in the prison estate.”

The Ministry of Justice confirmed it would be taking further advice from specialists and keeping staff updated and supported.

The department added that the new government would be ‘setting out its long-term plan for prison capacity later this year’.

This isn’t the first time in recent history that prisoners have been transferred from Dartmoor Prison, after several were moved between November and March after high levels of the odourless and colourless radioactive gas radon were detected in certain areas.

Radon is notorious on Dartmoor, as the moor is underpinned by granite, which emits a natural radioactivity. Radon is formed by the decay of uranium which occurs naturally in rocks and soil. Radon has been linked to lung cancer deaths.

Dartmoor Prison had been originally slated for closure in 2019 before being granted a reprieve last year due to a shortage of prison places nationwide.

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said in its most recent report, for 2022/23, that the Category C prison was overcrowded, understaffed and failed to provide a humane, fair or safe environment for prisoners. The practice of prisoners having to double up in cells designed for one person was condemned.

The prison was originally built to house Napoleonic prisoners of war in the early 1800s. It has been a penal establishment since 1850.

Following the news, Torridge and Tavistock’s MP, Sir Geoffrey Cox KC is seeking assurances from the new Labour government that it will keep Dartmoor Prison open and that it has a long-term future under Labour.

The MP, who fought off the attempt by the prison service to close the prison in 2019, was in close dialogue with the former Conservative government about its future until the general election and has now written to the Secretary of State for Justice, MP Shabana Mahmood, questioning the decision to cease its use “temporarily”.

Sir Geoffrey said: “We are led to believe that this closure is temporary, but I am puzzled why, in the light of the shortage of prison places, the government has given in to demands to evacuate the prison because of radon gas.

“That problem has been known for several years, mitigating measures were being taken, and the Conservative government did not accept the Health and Safety Executive’s suggestion that the gas infringed the legal standards of exposure or was a substantial risk to prisoners.

“I am seeking urgent explanations and assurances that the necessary action will be taken to reopen the prison as soon as possible. When I visited last year, I found a well-run prison and a dedicated staff. It makes no sense at all for this prison to be closed without the most compelling reasons and it is vital for the staff and their families that the uncertainty is removed soon.”