GOVERNMENT plans to privatise three North-East prisons were coming under increasing pressure last night after Britain’s only privately run jail suffered an embarrassing blunder.

About 1,400 inmates at the G4S-run Birmingham Prison were locked down for nearly 24 hours after a set of keys fitting every cell went missing on Tuesday.

Despite G4S insisting public safety was not put at risk, it is not known if the keys have since been found or what action is now being taken.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was moving ahead with its plans for further privatisation, formally launching a search to find new operators for nine prisons, including Durham, and Acklington and Castington, both in Northumberland.

Jenny Chapman, Darlington’s MP and Labour’s prisons spokeswoman, said: “It is crucial to protect citizens from dangerous individuals and it is far too an important a decision to be made on costs alone.”

The MoJ has released few details of yesterday’s meeting, but the prisons’ new operators are expected to be announced next autumn.

Prison and probation staff protested outside the summit, at Somerset House, in London, calling for a “level playing field” in the bidding process.

Mrs Chapman said organisations with a strong track record of running establishments safely and securely, such as the prison service, should have a better, not lesser, chance of winning contracts.

She said: “The most important things are security, the safety of staff and value for money. Private prisons can play a role in our system, but why try to privatise eight prisons at once, and why these eight?

“I’m concerned for the staff at Durham.”

An MoJ spokesman said its competition strategy and adjustments to the prison estate would help ensure continuing improvement in the quality and efficiency of the service, without compromising public safety.

The Government was committed to ensuring a fair and transparent competition process, producing an outcome representing best value to the taxpayer, he added.

The other prisons facing privatisation are Onley, in Northamptonshire, Coldingley, in Surrey, and Lindholme, Moorland and Hatfield, all near Doncaster. The Wolds, near Hull, which is run by G4S, is also included in the bidding process.

Roberta Blackman-Woods, Labour MP for Durham City, said Durham Prison was effective and well-managed and the long-term consequences of changing its management had not been fully considered.

She had written to the MoJ expressing her concerns and would continue to press for a suitable response, she added.