Winchester Prison is set to become a “resettlement prison” to try to do more to rehabilitate prisoners before their release.

More emphasis will be placed on deterring inmates from crime, even those serving short sentences in local prisons such as Winchester.

The Government wants every offender released from custody to receive statutory supervision. The change, which will involve 70 jails nationwide, was unveiled by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.

He said: “Rehabilitation in the community must begin behind the prison walls and follow offenders out through the gates if we are to stand a chance of freeing them from a life of crime.

“This approach is a significant step forwards in our reforms to tackle reoffending and lays the groundwork for building a genuine nationwide network of ‘through the gate’ supervision and support for all offenders.”

The new governor of Winchester, David Rogers has said he wants to see more rehabilitation work.