INMATES at a North-East prison are using their own cars to drive from jail to work each day, it has been revealed.

A number of prisoners from Kirklevington Grange, near Yarm, near Stockton, have been given the perk so they can drive themselves to paid jobs within the community.

The Government has decided the criminals should be allowed to buy their own cars or motorbikes - often using cash saved from work completed during their time in jail.

The cars are then locked in prison grounds to keep them safe from thieves and vandals.

The inmates are still serving prison sentences, but the jobs are designed to prepare them for release. They are allowed to store up cash to buy vehicles and pay road tax, as the Prison Service does not charge for their bed and board - despite the fact many are earning thousands of pounds.

The scheme is operating at other open prisons across the country, but critics say inmates could use their cars to abscond.

Confirming prisoners in the North-East were involved in the scheme, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: "Public protection is our greatest priority. Prisoners entering the open estate are subject to rigorous risk assessment.

"The open estate regime is designed to improve the resettlement outcomes of suitable prisoners towards the end of longer sentences, usually of three years or more, including life sentence prisoners.

"They will have served a significant part of their sentence in a closed establishment."

She said that the majority of prisoners travelled by the appropriate transport link or prison vehicle.

"However, due to the fact open prisons are located in rural areas, often with poor or non-existent public transport links, in certain circumstances it makes both economic and logistical sense for prisoners to be allowed to use their own vehicles," she said.

"Permission to use a motor vehicle to attend work placements is only allowed following a further risk assessment and this process may consider the nature of the index offence where this is deemed relevant.

"All expenses in connection with the vehicle are met by the prisoner or the vehicle owner - a saving to the public purse."