Exeter Prison wants £500,000 soundproofing to save neighbours from shouted abuse

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Fiona Keen, 27, and her 55-year-old mother, Christine, say their lives have been ruined by the constant stream of suggestive comments aimed at them.

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw has contacted the Home Secretary to support Exeter prison's request for £500,000 soundproof windows.

Miss Keen, a student, said the abuse started as soon as she moved into the £200,000 house opposite the prison six months ago.

She added: "It is really awful. Nearly every time we walk out we face the most awful abuse.

"They shout lewd comments and awful things. My mother is suffering from depression as a result. It is a nightmare."

She added: "Other residents of the flats here have been subjected to it and nearly every woman who walks past the prison faces the same sort of tirade.

"I can hear them shouting after I have gone to bed – and that is with my windows closed."

Her divorced mother, a hospital office worker, said: "We knew the prison was there but we didn't expect to be able to hear them.

"The prisoners smash their cell windows and shout abuse at us through the holes. It's horrendous."

Prison spokesman Mark Whysall said the £500,000 needed for the windows was "a lot of money for the prison service to find".

He added: "The matter was raised with the Home Secretary through Ben Bradshaw and we are looking at a new type of window which opens only one way and will make it more difficult to shout out.

"I fear the problem will never go away. We know with the summer coming residents who live in those flats want to be out on their patios in the sunshine – and not face abuse when they do."