Winchester, which for 100 years had only one prison, is set to get its second new one in under ten.

A remand centre for women inmates awaiting trial is to be built next to the West Hill women's jail on Romsey Road in a £1m scheme.

Building work is expected to start in August with a completion date of December 2003 to January 2004.

Trials at Winchester and Southampton crown courts are frequently disrupted at high cost to the taxpayer by the late arrival of women for court. Prison governor Jim Gomersall welcoming the news said the remand centre would have a capacity for 40 prisoners. Most women prisoners are brought to the crown courts in Hampshire from Holloway jail in north London because there is nowhere nearer for them to be held.

A famous exception was the Rosemary West trial in 1995 when special permission was given for her to be held in the men's jail.

The new unit will also mean that local families with mothers or daughters being held on remand will be spared long trips to see them.

It will be built using prefabricated pieces, allowing a speedy construction.

A new governor will be appointed to run the unit and also oversee the West Hill which is being transformed this year into the world's first therapeutic centre for women.

The £1 million investment addresses the growing problem of the fast-expanding number of women prisoners.