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29 Aug 2023

Revealed: Government spends millions on overspill prison cells in police stations

Data Correspondent and Presenter

Prisons in England and Wales are so full that the government’s had to turn to police cells to house prisoners.

We can reveal the cost is running into the millions.

It’s called Operation Safeguard – an emergency scheme, allowing the Ministry of Justice to take over police cells and use them to lock up prisoners who should be in jail.