HMP Barlinnie is to be closed down and replaced with a new £100 million jail, the Sunday Mail reports.

Reports state that the Scottish Prison Service has identified three sites as potential new homes for the successor prison and that all that is now required is a final decision from the Scottish Government.

It has also been reported that the new prison will cost around £100 million and will be located either within the city or on its outskirts.

The new facility will be double the size of Barlinnie, which was designed to hold 1000 inmates but is constantly overcrowded.

Barlinnie would be sold off and could be developed into social housing or private flats.

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said: “The government have a surplus land disposal policy. In the first instance, we would have to offer the land to other parts of government to use it for other purposes.

“Barlinnie is a Victorian prison and in need of replacement.

“We’ve enjoyed unprecedented levels of investment in our prison estate in the last decade, which has seen us tackle a number of major priorities.

“Barlinnie remains one. Its replacement is in the government infrastructure plan. We’ve been active in looking at a number of potential sites to relocate the prison.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman added: “The Scottish Government and Scottish Prison Service are committed to modernising and improving our prison estate.

“Plans for the improvement of the prison estate will be part of ongoing budget considerations for 2019/20.”