Do you have a suggested name for the new 'super jail' near Harborough? MOJ wants to hear your ideas

The government department is launching a consultation to allow the community to make suggestions.

The £300m jail will house up to 1,700 inmates and has been dubbed Gartree ‘Superprison’ by locals, though is currently known as Gartree 2 by officials.

The department says the jail should have its own identity and the community should have a say.

Suggestions will be whittled down to a shortlist and then decided by a panel of local representatives.

Adjacent to the existing HMP Gartree, the new prison will include seven housing blocks - on a site equivalent to around 14 football pitches.

Harborough District Council unanimously rejected the plans in 2022 but the scheme received the go-ahead by then-housing secretary Michael Gove who went against the advice of the Government’s own planning inspector.

Council leader Phil Knowles and Cllr Jo Asher are the first in line to provide name suggestions.

They say as Cabinet Minister Michael Gove ‘championed’ plans for the largest Category B prison in England, he ‘should have it named after him as his legacy, and so people never forget why it’s built there’.

Cllr Knowles said: “Mr Gove as Secretary of State seemingly ignored the decision to refuse by Harborough District Council’s planning committee, ignored public opinion, parish council opposition and the pleas of a public meeting. Then to crown it all ignored the independent inspector who after a public hearing that lasted several days said NO to the build.”

Work began last year on the prison, and is expected to take around four years.