THE new 600-capacity prison in Maghull will be run by a consortium that includes Merseyrail joint operator Serco.

The deal, along with another to run Belmarsh West prison in London, will be worth £600m to Serco over 26 years. The contracts are due to be signed early next year.

The Maghull prison will be built close to Ashworth Hospital and will be next door to 350-place HMP Kennet which opened in 2008.

Today the company reported a strong first half performance. Revenues in the six months to June 30 rose 30.8% to £1.95bn, pre-tax profits jumped 32.8% to £83.4m and the interim dividend will grow by 25% to 1.85p per share.

It achieved record contract awards with £2.1bn of deals signed and preferred bidder status achieved on £1.4bn of contracts. The order book stands at £16.7bn.

Chief executive Christopher Hyman said today: “This has been a strong first half.

“These opportunities, across all our markets, and our growing capabilities, underpin our confidence in the future.”

Serco provides outsourcing for a range of clients, but mainly governments. Contracts vary from US Homelands security to air traffic control and even pathology services.

Serco has a 50% stake in Merseyrail which this week achieved its best punctuality rates.