RESIDENTS living next to a proposed super prison that will cage murderers and sex offenders say their lives will be put in danger.
Neighbours of the planned lockup for lifers also claim their mental health is at risk, views will be wrecked and wildlife killed off.
And locals in Gartree, Leicestershire, fear the prison – where lags could be locked up for 22 hours-a-day – will cause “catastrophic traffic and parking problems".
Livid RAF veteran David Burden said the four-storey building, virtually in his back garden, had caused him and neighbours “mental stress.”
The 57-year-old aerospace engineer was close to tears when he told a packed public inquiry in nearby Market Harborough: “It is horrible and the worst thing I have gone through in my life. It is very unfair.”
David’s partner Jo Asher, sparked applause when she told planning Inspector Hayley Butcher: “Our lives will suffer but we’ve done nothing wrong.”
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Residents are fighting proposals to build the prison – the size of 17 football pitches – on Government-owned green fields next to existing HMP Gartree, a Category B men's prison.
They were unanimously rejected by Harborough District Council’s planning committee in April but the Ministry of Justice is appealing the decision.
Locals are also worried the prison – which could hold up to 1,700 lags – will devastate local services and cause noise and light pollution.
Chartered surveyor Andrew Bishop, 72, warned the plans will span 56 acres on four levels, adding: “It is shocking, why is the building coming here? Because the land is free. The MoJ owns it."
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Meanwhile, John March, a resident of 30 years chimed in, asking: “Visitors will come from all over the country and where will prison staff live?"
Locals are furious that no alternative sites have been revealed and chided the high profile Government prisons department for putting up a wall of silence.
Pensioner Hugh Lovesy, 75, said this was “unfair” and "makes me really concerned”.
The prison will sit next to Foxton Primary school, and teaching assistant Sandy Beaty, a prison officers daughter, warned the construction will contradict lessons kids get on the environment.
Harborough District Councillor, Richard Billington, whose authority threw out the plans, now fears the East Midlands "will be one the prison capitals of the country".
He was referring to the new Wellingborough and Glen Parva super jails in Northamptonshire and Leicestershire.
A massive petition with almost 2,200 signatures was launched while a GoFundMe to raise cash for the fight has raised over £1,000.
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A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told The Sun Online: “The proposed prison alongside the existing one at Gartree is a key part of the Government’s plan to toughen sentences and keep the public safe.
"It would create hundreds of new jobs and boost local businesses, and we will continue to work with residents and councillors in Harborough to persuade them how the prison will make our streets safer.”
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