On the day before MP Jon Cruddas holds a public meeting to discuss proposals for a ‘super-prison’ in Dagenham, the government has announced the building of a 2,000 capacity prison in Wales.

Four prisons across the country will be closed and the new ‘super-prison’ in Wrexham will replace them.

It is the first part in massive revamp of HM Prison Service and officials have been eyeing up other sites for similarly-sized prisons - and Beam Park in Dagenham is among them.

Back in 2010 Mr Cruddas fought against plans for a new prison to be built in Dagenham and his 15,000-signature petition successfully stopped all plans.

But the idea is back in the pipeline and the Dagenham and Rainham MP is back on the case.

Regarding the news on Wrexham, he commented: “The recent announcement highlights that there are other sites across the capital that could also accommodate a large scale prison facility, and I will be keeping the pressure up to make sure that all of the prospective sites are considered equally.

“The sheer amount of support and activity surrounding the campaign is fantastic and I urge everyone to keep fighting, many residents are out campaigning on their streets, encouraging anyone who hasn’t signed a petition to sign one. I will make sure that this isn’t just pushed in through the back door; that peoples voices are heard and that we create enough resistance to dissuade the Ministry of Justice, and Boris from putting a much opposed prison on our doorstep.”

Mr Cruddas is holding two consecutive public meetings tomorrow evening from 6.30pm at Dagenham Village Community Hall, in Vicarage Road, to listen to people’s concerns and outline the next steps of the campaign.