An MP is fighting proposals he understands are being drawn up to turn a riot-damaged prison into an immigration detention centre.

Rutland and Melton MP Alan Duncan says he has had a letter from the Ministry of Justice telling him about plans to turn Ashwell Prison, near Oakham, into an Immigration Removal Centre (IRC).

The letter had been sent by Maria Eagle, Minister of State at the department, he said.

He is now calling for an urgent meeting with Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw to persuade him to abandon the project.

The Government has confirmed that a review of the jail's future following a riot last year is under way.

A 20-strong team of police and prison officers is still investigating the 21-hour riot, which broke out last Easter Saturday, destroying 75% of the jail.

Before the riots on April 11, the jail held 611 inmates and had a maximum capacity of 619.

The prison has only partially re-opened.

In a letter to Mr Straw, Mr Duncan – who is Shadow Minister for Prisons – told him that an Immigration Removal Centre was not right for the county or the country.

He argued that Rutland was a small local authority and did not have the resources to manage such a centre.

He also said to convert Ashwell when British prisons were already overcrowded would undermine the prison system.

He told Mr Straw: "I am wholly opposed to this in every conceivable respect and cannot think of a single convincing argument for making such a change. I would be very grateful if we might discuss, at this early stage, how this unsettling proposal might be immediately abandoned.

"After the fire and disturbance in April, it was widely understood that this category C prison would be rebuilt. There is an obvious opportunity to expand the prison at the same time as re-building it.

"HMP Ashwell is uncontentious, even popular, locally. Its expansion would cause no upset and it is something that, as the local MP, I would positively welcome.

"There would be significant local support for the expansion of HMP Ashwell, and I would strongly urge you to go down that route instead of investing any further effort in assessing whether HMP Ashwell should be converted into an IRC."

Rutland County Council leader Councillor Roger Begy said: "They are currently carrying out a desk-top survey and there has been a long list created of possible sites which will come down to a shortlist.

"I have spoken to the governor and he has heard nothing."

A Prison Service spokesman said: "A strategic review of the future of HMP Ashwell is currently under way and is looking at a range of possible options for the future of the prison."