BRITAIN can’t build its way out of the prisons crisis, Prison Officers Association chairman Mark Fairhurst argued today.

Mr Fairhurst issued the warning as Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to build four new prisons – but admitted there still would not be enough places.

The union leader said:  “We have warned successive governments over the last couple of decades that if they fail to invest in the prison service a tipping point will be reached.

”That tipping point is now here.  We can’t build our way out of this crisis. We need to look at who we sentence and who we send to jail.”

Centre for Crime and Justice Studies director Richard Garside agreed, warning that “an unrealistic plan to waste billions on prison expansion over the longer term will not solve the entrenched problems in the prison system.

“It is time for a reality check: an ambitious and bold plan for prison reform and a commitment from government to stop squandering money on unrealistic and unpopular prison expansion.”

Ms Mahmood indicated that local opposition to new prisons would be overruled because “they are absolutely necessary to make sure the country doesn’t run out of prison places.”

She also warned that jury trials could be scrapped in some cases to overcome a backlog of cases.

The government is aiming to create 14,000 new cell spaces in the next seven years, of which 6,400 would be in newly built prisons.

The Justice Secretary told the BBC the increase would not overcome the overcrowding crisis “because demand is still rising faster than any supply could catch up with.”

Conceding that “building alone” will not be enough, Ms Mahmood confirmed “we will have to expand the range of punishment outside of prison.”

She blamed the plan to drop jury trials for lesser offences on “a Crown Court backlog that is very high and likely to rise.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” she said, adding that “a different way of managing our Crown Courts so that we can crack down on that backlog properly” was needed.

Both this government and its predecessor have taken to releasing prisoners early to ease pressure on jails. However, there are still more than 86,000 men and women behind bars.

Howard League for Penal Reform chief executive Andrea Coomber said the money earmarked for opening new jails “would be better invested in securing an effective and responsive probation service, working to cut crime in the community.”