Women inmates move to Mt Eden Prison

Women are taking over a unit at the male-only Mt Eden Prison to cope with an unexpected rise in the number of female jailbirds.

A 40-bed unit at the men's prison is being turned into a unit for women because the 54-bed Mt Eden Women's Prison and the two women's jails in Wellington and Christchurch are full.

Ian Taylor, the Department of Corrections national manager for systems and security, said an unexpected rise in the number of women inmates had made it necessary to house some women in police cells since last week.

"This is not acceptable for anything other than a very short time so we have had to look at other alternatives."

He was unable to say what had caused the rise in the number of women inmates.

The surge in prisoners had exceeded Ministry of Justice forecasts.

Most of the increase in the number of women prisoners had occurred in the Auckland area.

Mr Taylor could not say how long Mt Eden's male prison would be used to hold female prisoners.

But he was confident that by opening the prison's cells the Corrections Department could handle the additional numbers.

"Mt Eden provides a medium security facility and allows the best access to normal prison activities such as inmate employment," Mr Taylor said.

Women inmates are due to move into the new unit, which is separate from the main men's section, in the next few weeks.

The Minister of Corrections, Matt Robson, is expected to announce shortly plans for a second women's prison in Auckland to cope with increasing numbers.