Fed–up locals living next to one of Britain’s newest prisons say their lives have been made hell by rowdy inmates playing loud rap music and swearing 24/7.
HMP Fosse Way in Leicestershire cost a staggering £286 million to build and officially opened in June 2023.
Run by government contracting juggernaut Serco, it houses around 1,700 prisoners coming to the end of their sentences – meaning they enjoy more freedoms and luxuries than the average lag as they are prepared for their return to decent society.
But locals living in its shadow in Glen Parva say they are plagued by loud noises booming from the category C jail at all hours of the day and night, and that the jail’s presence has sent home insurance prices rocketing.
Sales data from Rightmove suggests homes in the village have appreciated in value by around three per cent in the last year.
On one of the streets the prison looms over they have fallen by the same amount.
The prison has recently been roundly criticised for its safety record by inspectors who visited months after a convict was beaten to death in his cell – with some locals worried that absconders will try to break into their homes.
Managing director Warren Sim, 56, who lives yards from the perimeter fence, likened the noise of its fans – thought to be a combination of air con units and kitchen ventilation – to a ‘jumbo jet taking off’.
The father–of–four said: ‘We live a couple of hundred metres away from the nearest wing, where our garden ends there’s a trainline and the other side of that is the prison ground. The noise is absolutely ridiculous.
‘Prisoners are shouting out of the window, effing and blinding at each other, and explicit rap music is so loud you hear it in our garden.
‘Then there are the alarms that go off all the time. When an alarm goes off it should be dealt with quickly, but sometimes you hear it blaring away for 30 minutes.’
Mr Sim also has questions about the barless windows, which were meant to be sealed to deter drone-based smuggling.
He added: ‘I heard the building should have been built with non-opening windows so they can’t shout out of them but they clearly can. When I’m on the phone even my customers ask me if I live near the airport.
‘We’ve spent a lot of money on our home. I’ve spent an extreme amount of money to make the back garden pleasurable but we can’t enjoy it.
‘We’re moving to France shortly which means we’re going to have to sell up but no one is going to buy it while we have the ultimate noisy neighbours.
‘The prison management need to address the issues. Imagine the estate agent coming around and hearing the loud fans and music and shouting.’
Fosse Way is spread across a 16-acre site and has ‘secure’ perimeter walls that are 5.2 metres high.
But a recent inspection report has raised ‘significant concerns’ over its operation, with a ‘steady rise’ in violence and illicit drug use, with substances thrown over the walls or smuggled in by prisoners and even by staff.
Inmates told inspectors during an unannounced visit in March that they felt ‘unsafe’, with around 360 disciplinary charges laid against prisoners every month for violence, contraband and drug use.
At least nine prisoners have died serving sentences, including Mahir Abdulrahman, 31, who was murdered by 19-year-old Ashirie Smith in August last year while serving a sentence for a sexual offence.
A chilling video showed him smirking seconds before he entered Abdulrahman’s cell and stamped on his head and neck in a vicious assault lasting just 37 seconds.
Smith was jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 and a half years while co-conspirator Thierry Robinson, 21, was jailed for 11 years after being found guilty of manslaughter for his role in the killing.
The court had been told Abdulrahman had thrown a kettle of hot water at the pair the day before after they taunted him.
Serco says it has an action plan in place to address the HM Inspectorate of Prison’s concerns – but locals say they’re still worried about the impact the facility is having on their lives.
Mother–of–two Jaclyn Tierney, 47, said she won’t let her children play in their garden in case they hear foul language from prisoners or their music.
She said: ‘The fan can go off any time and can be on for hours. Last week it was on for six hours. It sounds like an airport: I used to live next to one and it sounds exactly like a jet taking off.
‘The other thing that grinds my gears is the music which is that loud it’s like my neighbours are playing it. It’s so obscene, it’s the f–word, the n–word.
‘I won’t let my kids in the garden, I don’t want them listening to that. I can’t believe they’re listening to that sort of music in there, given that they’re in prison.
‘Everybody is absolutely sick of it, they’ve just had enough.’
Father–of–one Chris Hasler, 46, said he was worried about the impact of the prison on the value of his home.
He said: ‘There’s a tree that could fall down into our garden at any time that’s on the prison land but they won’t do anything with it.
‘We were told when it was being built that the cells would face inwards. That was a lie. It’s got closer, higher and from my son’s bedroom window you can literally see the prisoners on the landing.
‘In some of the houses you literally have prisoners looking into your home. It’s not just the noise, nobody wants that, it’s the privacy, too.’
Along with the common gripe of Fosse Way’s huge air conditioners, Mr Hasler added that the prison is also a constant source of light. It’s so strong that the local birds tweet throughout the night, convinced it’s dawn.
He summed up: ‘You’ve got light pollution, noise, disrepair and people can see into your windows.
‘I’ve lived on this estate for 35 years. When they said were building it we weren’t supposed to have this. Everyone is having disturbed sleep.
‘It’s not nice having prisoners look into your bedroom windows. God only knows how it’s dropped the house prices by.’
Between 2023 and last year 58 inmates absconded from the jail and last February Ashley Ferrie, 35, became the first inmate to die in the prison after he hanged himself in his cell.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said: ‘The prison may be for so–called petty criminals but they are still criminals.
‘I’ve always worried about prisoners escaping and breaking into people’s homes. I’ve heard from some people that insurance companies are very twitchy about people living so close to a prison.’
The prison was built on the site of the former Glen Parva Young Offenders’ Institution, and opened in May 2023.
It boasts five–a–side football pitches, table tennis areas as well as having access to games consoles and computers in their cells.
There is a plush studio for them to learn music technical skills, how to make and repair spectacles, and a £100,000 digger simulation to learn how to handle a forklift truck or drive HGVs.
These were built to encourage prisoners to learn a vocation behind bars in order to become more employable on the outside – but prompted accusations that it was ‘woke’ and too soft on criminals.
Serco said it had implemented ‘a number of measures’ to tackle the problems.
A spokesperson said: ‘We have implemented a number of measures to reduce the noise of extractor fans and loud music, and we remain committed to working with the local community to find suitable resolutions where possible.’
Blaby District Council said it was also in contact with prison bosses.
It said in a statement: ‘We have been working closely with prison operators Serco to advise them on ways they can manage noise issues to reduce any impact on local residents.
‘If people are experiencing issues then please contact our environmental health department as both ourselves and Serco are keen to ensure any disturbance from the site is kept to a minimum.’