Building work has started on a new sports hall in the grounds of a prison.

A white structure has appeared at HMP Maidstone for the hall that will include a volleyball court.

Plans were filed in July 2021 which proposed the demolition of the site’s former sports hall and swimming pool which had become run down.

Permission was granted in October 2021 and last Friday people could see the top of the structure take shape.

The new building will include a volleyball court in the main hall, changing rooms, a physiotherapy room, studio room, storage, plant room, two offices, a break room, and a new tarmac outdoor recreational space.

Improvements to the fencing around the area will also be made.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “Physical activity boosts rehabilitation, makes prisons safer and ultimately protects the public.”

The Ministry of Justice said there is no date set for when the work will be completed or how much it would cost.

In January, the prison was criticised after a report made by Inspector Charlie Taylor suggested there was not enough support for the prisoners and cell conditions were “barely fit for purpose”.

The report mentioned some of the incarcerated being asked to sign documents only written in English and highlighted a lack of translators being used to aid those held inside.

But it did praise the Governor at the time, Dawn Mauldon, for her efforts and her honest and realistic guidelines and how she “was well-liked by both prisoners and staff.”

The 58-year-old retired in April with Mark Icke taking over.

Along with the sports facility, the prison has shown other ways it supports its inmates. In August last year it won the Best Community Project for a second year in a row when taking part in the Maidstone in Bloom competition in August.

Inmates were able to show off their greenfingers over the work they had done to create a garden environment judge Neil Jackson called “remarkable”.