Prisoners may go free early to cut overcrowding

LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) Britain is considering freeing some inmates early from jail because of prison overcrowding, the Home Office said today.

The prison system in England and Wales, which has a maximum capacity of just under 80,000, is nearly full and the BBC reported there was only room for another 700 criminals.

The Home Office is now considering extending the ''transitional home leave'' scheme which allows certain inmates to be freed early.

''It is something that's being looked at,'' said a spokeswoman, adding no decision had yet been taken.

''The important thing to stress is that if it was something that was done, it would be low-risk prisoners -- it wouldn't include sex offenders, violent offenders nor foreign nationals.'' In June, the Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers warned that jails were reaching bursting point and might have to turn away newly convicted criminals.

That followed a similar warning from the Prison Reform Trust charity which said earlier this year that England and Wales had the highest rate of imprisonment in western Europe.

It said overcrowding also led to a rise in reoffending.

''The Home Secretary has made additional prison places a high priority,'' the Home Office spokeswoman said.

''In July he announced a further 8,000 prison places would be built to manage the pressures on the prison population following the recent review of the criminal justice system.'' REUTERS SKU BS1343