Two 'Titan' super-prisons could be built in the capital

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The prisons - dubbed "Titans" - will each hold 2,500 inmates over four or five floors and could specialise in a specific group of convicts, such as juveniles or sex offenders.

They will form the centrepiece of a drive to raise Britain's overall prison capacity by 13,000 - from around 83,000 now to 96,000 in 2014 - in response to projections that the number of inmates will continue to rise sharply.

London prisons are already struggling to cope with 11,500 more convicts than cell capacity. The first of three Titan jails planned for across the country will probably be built in the capital and is due for completion by 2012.

Ministers previously indicated that one Titan jail would be built in London but today suggested it could get two.

The revelation came in a consultation document published in Parliament by prisons minister David Hanson. It states: "The most significant shortfall in capacity is in London. As such we will focus attention, as far as possible, on London and the surrounding areas."

Critics say the size of the Titan jails could make them dangerous but the document states they will be divided into smaller self-contained units.