RESIDENTS living in the shadow of Britain's 'paedo Alcatraz' are outraged they have to mix with vile perverts.
Locals of Portland, Dorset, are fuming at plans to expand HMP The Verne, a specialist prison for sex offenders which previously counted depraved pop star Gary Glitter as an inmate.
Plans passed in February will see more than 60 new places for offenders at the former military barracks which sits on the highest point of the island and is surrounded by cliffs and a moat.
The development has unsettled many living nearby as they claim much of what goes within the complex is a mystery.
Roger Wilson, 75, who runs a local joinery, told The Sun Online: "While the prison does actually provide some employment for people in the community they are far from being a part of the community.
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"No one is consulted on what goes on up there and people look upon it as an eyesore.
"While we don’t want to be accused of being ‘Nimbys’ there aren’t many communities that would want the likes of Gary Glitter living on their doorstep."
Tourist boat captain Clem Carter, 54, added that the residents of The Verne are "a law unto themselves".
He said: "There is no local consultation with the people who live in the area.
"They could hold aliens from outer space and we wouldn’t know about it."
Fellow local, Maria O'Connell, 35, agreed, saying: "The Verne is way past its sell-by date.
"It’s a ramshackle collection of buildings which are not fit for purpose, the best thing that they can do is close it down totally.
"I would be in favour because although I’m sure security is tight, there are some dangerous inmates up there who could pose a threat to those of us living nearby.
"I’ve got two small girls and while I’m not particularly worried, as a parent you do have to be aware of the risks that could threaten your children."
An extra 40 cells are expected to be used at The Verne Prison site on Portland as part of a national strategy to add 1,000 temporary cells to the prison estate while permanent ones are constructed.
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The prison can trace its history back to the 1850s, when it was built to defend Portland Harbour.
It became a jail in 1949 and received its first inmates in 1949.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) closed the prison in 2014 and it was used as an immigration detention facility, while inmates were transferred elsewhere.
However, in 2018, The Verne underwent a huge £3.3million refurbishment and reopened as a specialist Category C low-security prison housing sex offenders.
Category C prisons are for inmates who cannot be trusted in an open setting but are unlikely to try and escape.
The Sun previously revealed that inmates are allowed to walk freely around their wing 24 hours a day and can make TV and coffee in their cells using their own facilities.
The large gardens boast an astroturf football pitch for five-a-side kickabouts, a giant chess set for inmates to play on and an ornamental pond filled with foot-long expensive koi carp.
There is also a farm area where lags can grow flowers and look after ducks as they serve their prison sentence.
They also have 20-inch flatscreen TVs and personal trainers who take them for fitness sessions in the prison gym.
One of its most high-profile former inmates is paedophile glam rocker Gary Glitter.
Glitter was jailed in 2015 for sexually abusing three schoolgirls but left The Verne in February this year.
He was freed automatically halfway through a fixed-term determinate sentence.
But within days of Glitter being released into a bail hostel he was recalled after reports in The Sun found that he had asked about accessing the Dark Web through a mobile phone – in breach of his release conditions.
In the wake of the revelations, he was recalled to The Verne and any future release will be subject to a parole hearing.
Dorset Council planning officers said the additional cells were "acceptable and appropriate".
An MoJ spokesperson said: "These temporary prison cells will protect the public by ensuring we have enough space to keep offenders off the street and protect the public."
