INMATES with a history of absconding could be banned from open prisons after a protest by a Bradford MP.

Shipley Conservative MP Philip Davies urged David Cameron to act after condemning the number of murderers fleeing from Britain’s most lightly-protected jails.

During Prime Minister’s Questions today, he said: “It is bad enough that the latest figures show that there are 363 murderers in open prisons and that 106 murderers have absconded from open prisons in the last ten years.

“But the figures also show that there are 179 offenders in open prisons who have previously absconded from an open prison.

“Will the Prime Minister give a commitment to ensure that nobody who has ever absconded from an open prison will ever be allowed back into an open prison?”

In reply, Mr Cameron said: “I will examine his proposal.

“We have already overhauled the process for allowing prisoners out on temporary licence, which has led to a 39 per cent drop in the number breaching their licence conditions.

“The rate of prisoners escaping from prison has reached a record low.

“As I understand it, prisoners with a history of escaping or absconding while on temporary release are prevented from transferring to open conditions other than in the most exceptional cases.”

The Prime Minister said he would “look at those exceptional cases to see whether there is a case for the blanket ban”, and write to Mr Davies over the summer.