VILLAGERS have launched a fight to stop controversial plans to build a super prison near their homes.

The four-storey jail, which would house 1,620 inmates, would be built in Featherstone, near Wolverhampton.

The village is already home to Featherstone Prison and Brinsford Young Offenders Institution, which will be extended with a third building if the Ministry of Justice plans are given the green light.

Set to be the largest existing prison on a 13 hectare site - formerly the Royal Ordnance Factory Featherstone - families fear the move will result in a “national prison where people will be brought from every corner of the UK to fill it up”.

Spaces for 800 cars will also be provided and residents fear the area will just not be able to cope with the extra traffic.

A section of green belt land has also been earmarked for leisure facilities, including a gym, for inmates.

Featherstone Parish Council is appealing for 1,000 written objections from residents to show the huge amount of opposition to the proposal in a bid to get it thrown out when it is considered by South Staffordshire Council next month.

The council has extended a deadline for residents to object by two weeks until November 27.

The plea for objections comes just days after villagers heard the Secretary of State had stood by the council’s decision to refuse permission for a housing development and park and ride on an adjoining part of the site.

Coun Frank Beardsmore, chairman of the parish council, said: “So far we’ve had 100 letters of objection to these plans in just a few days - but we need more. We already have two prisons and we feel that a built-up area like this is completely the wrong location for a super prison.”