PRISON officers expressed fears last night over plans to cut the Ministry of Justice budget by more than £7bn over the next four years.

It is feared that 11,000 frontline prison and probation staff could be lost as a result of a streamlining of the criminal justice system.

Colin Moses, the chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: “I fear for the security of the professional men and women of the service.”

Mr Moses, a former prison officer at Low Newton Prison, near Durham City, said: “The prison service has already saved massive amounts of money year-on-year, leading to an increase in the ratio of prisoners to prison officers and a reduction in the level of regime and rehabilitation in our prisons.

“Prisons are holding more and more violent and dangerous prisoners, the majority of which are serving longer sentences and have nothing to fear from prison.”

A number of courts in the region are expected to close as a result of funding cuts – 103 magistrates’ courts and 54 county courts are facing the axe nationally.

Meanwhile, a total of £350m will be cut from the Legal Aid budget, meaning fewer defendants on low incomes are likely to be represented in court.

The Government said community penalties would be used “where they are more effective than short prison sentences”

and that private and voluntary providers would be paid by results for delivering reductions in re-offending.

Mediation and alternatives to court, where possible, are planned to provide “effective access to justice, while ensuring that court is seen as a last resort, rather than the default option”.

It said mentally-ill defendants would also be diverted away from the justice system and into treatment.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said planned reforms would reduce the burgeoning prison population by about 3,000 over the next four years.