AN open prison in South Gloucestershire is housing 50 convicted murderers.

It has been revealed this week that out of the 532 inmates at Leyhill Open Prison, near Falfield, 50 have been detained for committing murder.

The figure was released by the Lord Chancellor, Jack Straw, who also revealed the number of murderers being held at all of the country’s open prisons.

Out of the 11 open prisons in England and Wales Leyhill has the second highest number of murderers, Sudbury Open Prison, in Derbyshire, has 60.

The total number of prisoners convicted of murder and in prison is approximately 4,900, with 260 in open prisons.

Mr Straw said: "To release prisoners directly from a closed prison without the resettlement benefits of the open estate would undoubtedly lead to higher levels of post-release re-offending.

"Prisoners are assessed objectively in a process looking at all aspects of their offending behaviour, actions they have taken to reduce their likelihood of re-offending and the risk they pose to the public. They are placed in the lowest security category consistent with their assessed risk."