HMP Risley is set to become a specialist prison for foreign national offenders (FNOs) over the next three years.

The changes will come into force as a result of the Government’s plans to reform the prison estate across England and Wales.

HMP Risley on Warrington Road is currently a category C training prison and a hub for FNOs with an on-site Home Office Immigration enforcement team, who are permanently based at the prison.

The plan is to increase the number of FNOs at the prison, which is one of the largest category C training prisons in the UK.

A prison service spokesman told the Warrington Guardian: “Through the prison estate transformation programme we are getting the basics right by building decent prisons to improve rehabilitation and create safe and secure environments for staff and offenders.

“As part of these changes, HMP Risley will become a specialist prison for Foreign National Offenders.

“This will ensure that prisoners are held in the right place at the right time and their rehabilitation can be managed more effectively.”

It is understood these changes are expected to be completed by April 2021.

HMP Risley first opened in 1964 as a male and female remand centre.

It was nicknamed Grisley Risley due to the poor conditions in the mid 1980s that led to prison riots.

In 1989 the male part of the prison became a training prison before it was extended in 2003.

In 2009, HMP Risley became a hub for up to 200 foreign national prisoners.

In the latest report from the Independent Monitoring Board, which inspects jails across the country and was published in 2017, it was noted how the prison housed on average 1,115 male inmates.

At the time of the inspection, this included 131 foreign nationals, 212 sex offenders, and 80 lifers or those serving a minimum-term tariff.

Fears have been raised that the changes will include transforming HMP Risley into an immigration camp – but these claims were disputed by the MoJ.