IF Christmas dinner with the in-laws seems like a daunting prospect, spare a thought for the inmates of the region's jails - their turkey and stuffing will be served up with a side order of loneliness.

While law-abiding citizens don silly hats and tuck into Christmas pudding, inmates at HM Durham Prison are making do with a festive meal lovingly prepared from a miniscule budget of £1.53 each.

In civvy street, this might pay for a turkey butty and a cup of tea, but kitchen staff at the high security prison manage to stretch the meagre budget to a full three-course Christmas meal.

Deputy governor David Thompson said festive cheer could, on occasions, be in short supply when the annual Christmas meal was served up.

He said: "Every year we hear how inmates live in the lap of luxury over Christmas, which is absolute rubbish.

"They are locked in here with no access to their children and their Christmas dinner costs the same as it does every other day - £1.53. It is not particularly rosy.

"Most inmates try to get into the Christmas spirit for the day but, of course, there are a minority who think they've got nothing to be merry about.

"They are getting decent food in here and that's part of the new philosophy of the last few years, which says we have to treat them like human beings."

A festive menu which includes Norfolk turkey breast, chipolata sausages, Christmas pudding and brandy sauce is not exactly cordon bleu, but it is a world away from standards 20 years ago.

Assistant catering manager at the prison, Malcolm Shirkey, said: "The food used to be a lot worse.

"Mind you, in those days conditions would be so bad at home, that some old lags would get locked up deliberately just to have semi-decent food over Christmas."