The justice Secretary, Kenneth Clarke, has been asked to visit Wellingborough Prison to discuss its planned closure.
He has been invited by Wellingborough and Rushden MP Peter Bone who is stepping up his campaign to try to reverse the decision made last week.
Tomorrow, the backbench Conservative will follow up his meetings with representatives from the prison officers’ union and Wellingborough Council by speaking to the governor of HMP Wellingborough.
Mr Bone has also secured a Parliamentary debate on the issue which will take place on September 5.
Mr Bone said: “In addition, I have written to the Secretary of State for Justice requesting any decision to close the prison is put off until September until parliament has had an opportunity to discuss it.
“The prison minister will have to answer my questions and explain why Wellingborough Prison should be closed.” Last week, Mr Clarke said shutting the category C facility would save the prison service £10 million.
As a result more than 600 prison places will be lost and 257 staff will be moved to other jails. There will be no compulsory redundancies.
