Capacity at HMP The Mount is to increase by almost a quarter in the next two years if a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plan gets the go ahead.

The number of inmates would rise from 768 to more than 1,000 for the first time in the history of the Bovingdon prison if the new three-storey cell block gets the go-ahead.

The prison, which opened in 1987 with a capacity of 500, has been identified as ripe for expansion due to its proximity to London - which has a substantial shortfall of prison places.

At a planning meeting of Bovingdon Parish Council last night (July 23) officials from the MoJ, planning consultants and Steve Bradford, the prison’s governor, took questions from residents.

Bill Davis from the MoJ, said: "As part of the MoJ’s commitment to cutting costs in the wake of the comprehensive spending review we need to look at making significant savings across the MoJ estate.

"To deliver the required cash savings we are constructing more efficient buildings.

"There is an identified strategic need for additional places across the estate."

Plans of the new development include an L-shaped accommodation block, a new kitchen and a sports and training facility, additional parking is also being looked at.

The multi-million pound expansion would also see an increase in staffing levels at the prison, creating around 53 full-time jobs that Mr Bradford said he expected to go to residents.

He said: "We feel we are a reasonably large employer of local people and we are the only prison in Hertfordshire.

"We anticipate the majority of the people we take on will come from the local area.

"We don’t tend to have many staff that travel long distances to work."

Many of the residents who attended the meeting voiced concerns that the increase in staff and the introduction of visiting times on Wednesday and Thursday rather than just the weekend would exacerbate the existing parking problems.

Suggestions were made that an increase in staff and visitors would lead to even more cars parking at the side of the road in Molyneaux Avenue and Lancaster Drive.

One attendant said: "Because the majority of your programme happens within the confines of the prison that’s fine, it’s what’s going on outside that concerns us."

Another said: "I would suggest looking at 45 spaces rather than an additional 30."

Bovingdon resident Barry Bryant said: "If there were a lot more people being employed from outside then clearly the number of cars would increase."

The L-shaped block will accommodate 240 prisoners and is expected to have an excellent energy efficiency rating. Bosses hope it will be completed by August 2014.

The increase in capacity will not be used to reverse the number of single-occupancy cells which have been converted to house two inmates, an issue that a recent Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) report criticised the prison for.

No planning application has yet been submitted to Dacorum Borough Council, the planning authority, although discussions between them and the MoJ have taken place.