Councillors in Princetown have revealed the stay of execution for the iconic Dartmoor Prison was on the cards long before an official announcement that it was to remain open was made, writes Phil Stoneham.

Dartmoor Forest parish councillor Gregg Manning said that they had been told by landowners the Duchy of Cornwall that a new lease was being negotiated on the prison, built two centuries ago to hold prisoners from the Napoleonic Wars with the French.

And West Devon Borough councillor Mark Renders, who runs the post office and stores in Princetown, said the announcement that Dartmoor Prison was to carry on before its proposed closure date in 2023 ‘must have been one of the worst-kept secrets in the world’.

Both councillors welcomed official confirmation from the Prison Service that a new lease was being negotiated and Cllr Renders said: ‘Obviously, I’m pleased, but it is one of the worst-kept secrets in the world, because we’ve known about it for some time.

‘It’s good news for the people who live in the village (Princetown) who still work at the prison. The only drawback is that we do not know yet how long the new lease will be. There is a lot of work which needs doing to the prison and is the new lease going to be renewed every year, or is it something which is going to be more long term?

‘It’s good for the village in the sense that we still have prison officers here who use the cafes and the pubs, so money is coming into the local economy.’

Cllr Manning added: ‘It doesn’t come as a great surprise, because the Duchy had promised us (the council) that they would keep it open. There are 650 prisoners kept there at the moment and I believe they would have difficulty moving them elsewhere.

‘The prison population is not going to go down, because it seems that sentences are getting longer and if some prisoners were released, then the prison would fill up again.’

Apparently doomed Dartmoor Prison was given a new lease of life after the Government dropped plans to close it in 2023. MPs and councillors had battled against the proposed closure, which would have saved millions of pounds, for years.

The Prison Service confirmed that the prison would remain open following new negotiations over a lease with landlords the Duchy of Cornwall. It is understood the length of the new lease will be revealed next year.

A spokeswoman said: ‘An initial agreement has been reached with the Duchy of Cornwall to keep HMP Dartmoor open beyond 2023 – protecting jobs and 640 prison places that keep the public safe.’

The news delighted Mark Fairhurst, chairman of the Prison Officers Association (POA), who said in a tweet: ‘It gives me great pleasure to announce that the POA union campaign to keep HMP Dartmoor open has been successful.

‘HMPPS (prison service) has now agreed Dartmoor will remain operational as a prison beyond the end of 2023. That is excellent news for staff.’