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A restaurant staffed by Cardiff Prison convicts cost taxpayers more than £380,000 to refurbish, it has been revealed.

The Clink opened to paying customers in a building adjacent to the prison last September, offering prisoners the opportunity to work in a professional catering environment.

Details released by the Prison Service following a request made under the Freedom of Information Act show that both Cardiff Prison and Frankland Prison in Durham contributed to the development of The Clink in Cardiff.

Cardiff paid £362,485 and Frankland provided furniture worth around £18,000.

By the middle of January, around 2,500 customers had been served.

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A statement issued by the Prison Service to accompany the disclosure said: “We want to make prisons more active places, introduce prisoners to the work ethic and make them more employable on release – crucial as we know that having a job helps reduce future offending and the misery and cost this causes to communities.”

Robert Oxley, campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance pressure group, said: “Huge amounts of taxpayers’ money is spent keeping offenders behind bars.

“If their training can help pay back that debt, therefore easing the burden on taxpayers, then the profits of the restaurant should be ploughed back into the justice system. This programme appears to be helping prisoners so it’s only right it helps those footing the bill for their crimes.”

Cardiff Central Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Willott, in whose constituency the prison and restaurant lie, said: “I appreciate that £362,000 is a lot of money and I am glad that Cardiff Prison’s spending decisions are being scrutinised.

“But when you bear in mind that it costs around £40,000 per year to keep someone in prison, it doesn’t take long to recover the costs of creating The Clink if it means that prisoners are helped out of the reoffending cycle.

“The restaurant is run as a separate charity and the taxpayer is not responsible for running costs.

“Prison is about paying your debt to society, but it also needs to be about helping those in prison to break out of the way of life or behaviour which got them sent there in the first place.

“Enabling prisoners to get the skills – and the confidence, attitude and aspiration – to get a job when they leave prison must be central to our penal system, and I think initiatives like The Clink can play a valuable role in that process, as long as it is carefully managed.”

Chris Moore, chief executive of The Clink Charity, said: “While no facts and figures relating to The Clink Cymru are currently available within the public domain, due to the restaurant having been open for less than six months, I can confirm that The Clink Cymru currently operates at a loss due to the nature of the training and continued mentoring which is key to the success of the rehabilitation programme.”