The ban on sending books to prisoners is to be scrapped to encourage inmates to educate themselves.

Justice Secretary Michael Gove is to tear up rules imposed by his predecessor Chris Grayling which stopped parcels of books being sent to offenders behind bars.

He says prisoners should not be 'sitting around idly in their cells' when they could be improving their literacy to get a job when they are released.

Justice Secretary Michael Gove says prisoners should not be 'sitting around idly in their cells' when they could be improving their literacy to get a job when they are released

The controversial ban on parcels of books being sent to prisoners was condemned as 'unenlightened' when Mr Grayling introduced it in 2013.

He claimed parcels being sent into prisons had been a vehicle for 'contraband' and there were not enough staff to check them all properly.

Mr Grayling insisted prisoners could access books from jail libraries and could purchase more using money earned by working inside.

He was removed as Justice Secretary when the all-Tory government was formed in May this year, with Mr Gove – a former Education Secretary - taking his job.

Under the new rules, which come into force from September, relatives will be able to send parcels of books to prisoners directly.

Under the new rules, which come into force from September, relatives will be able to send parcels of books to prisoners directly

The ban on parcels being sent to prisoners in all but exceptional circumstances will remain, but with an exemption for packages containing only books.

Mr Gove says it will mean that friends, relatives, churches, charities and others will be able to send books directly to prisoners.

A limit on inmates keeping no more than 12 books in their cells will also be lifted.

The controversial ban on parcels of books being sent to prisoners was condemned as 'unenlightened' when Chris Grayling introduced it in 2013

But prison governors will still be able to withhold or ban any books which they deem 'inappropriate, not conducive to rehabilitation, or contrary to the safe running of the prison'.

Mr Gove said: 'We have more than 80,000 people in custody.

The most important thing we can do once they are in prison is make sure that they are usefully employed and that they get the literacy and numeracy and other skills they need for success in work.'

He highlighted the work of social scientist Arthur Brooks, of the American Enterprise Institute, who believes that all human beings should be seen as assets not liabilities.

Mr Gove added: 'Every individual has something to offer, every one of us can earn respect. People who are currently languishing in prison are potential assets to society.

'They could be productive and contribute. If we look at them only as problems to be contained we miss the opportunity to transform their lives and to save ourselves and our society both money and pain.

'All of us suffer when people leave prison and then re-offend, all of us benefit when individuals are redeemed.'

All packages of books will still be subject to full security checks – including using sniffer dogs and sophisticated scanning technology – before they are passed on to prisoners.