Winchester prison has offered a warm welcome to its new governor who has now taken up her post.

Cathy Allison has replaced Jim Gommersall who ran the jail for the last three years.

He left after being promoted to a newly created post concentrating on immigration detention based at HM Inspectorate of Prisons headquarters in London.

The new governor has clocked up nearly 18 years working for the prison service and has enjoyed a steady rise up the ranks since she joined as an officer in 1986.

Ms Allison should not take too long to settle in to her new job. She worked as the deputy governor there in 2000. She joins Winchester from HMP Albany on the Isle of Wight where she served as the governor.

Ms Allison said: "I am extremely pleased to be back at Winchester. I am looking forward to working with the staff and facing the challenges which will obviously be there for both staff and prisoners over the next few years."

Ms Allison is joining the prison at an uncertain time, just days after it hit the headlines once again for having one of the highest suicide rates in the country.

Four inmates suffered self-inflicted deaths at the category B local prison in 2003, a figure beaten by just one other jail.