Archer moved to open prison

The move comes three months after he was jailed for four years at the Old Bailey for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

Archer’s new jail is situated six miles east of Boston on 1,000 acres of land reclaimed from the sea.

Archer - prison number FF8282 - will have a key to his cell and will be able to let himself out at 7.40am each day.

His move follows his downgrading from a Category C to a low-risk Category D inmate by Wayland governor Kate Cawley.

Archer, 61, had previously been classified as Category C after Scotland Yard launched an investigation into allegations of fraud relating to a charity appeal to help the Kurds in Iraq.

But he will now be trusted to serve out the rest of his four-year sentence in open conditions.

His new surroundings on the Lincolnshire coast could provide plenty of inspiration for a new novel.

North Sea Camp’s grounds include a tree believed by some Muslims to be a miracle.

Last year Mohammed Tair, a 25-year-old burglar, spotted the name of Allah spelt in Arabic in the branches of the tree.

A local Imam was brought in and declared it a miracle and the tree was fenced off.

Archer, 61, will also be sharing his new home with rare breeds of boar.

There are around 2,000 pigs and sheep on the prison’s farm where around a quarter of the jail’s 200-plus inmates work.

The biggest draw for school parties in recent years was Captain, a Middle White boar, who was renowned for his ugliness.

‘‘Unfortunately, Captain is no longer with us,’’ said a prison source but there are still other boars.

If the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party decides to join work on the farm, which could include looking after the remaining pigs, he will earn £9 a week.

It is the highest paid detail at the jail.

The farm provides food to the Prison Service and it is of such high quality that it is also sold on the open market.

North Sea Camp dates from 1935 when a group of young inmates and officers from Stafford Prison began building a new prison on the Lincolnshire coast and reclaiming land from the sea.

Originally an open borstal, it became an open prison for men in 1988.

The prison has two living units and two long-term houses in the ‘‘old quarters’’ which provide 10 places and each have a lounge, kitchen, TV and carpets.

The houses are described as having ‘‘not a stick of prison furniture’’ in them.

The jail also has an excellent education department where inmates can become tutors and help others to learn to read and write.

There is also a large sports field but if former PE teacher Archer is thinking of organising games he may have a tricky time.

According to the British Home Office the field is ‘‘exposed completely to the wind from the sea which often makes ball games difficult.’’

The jail has mostly two-man cells but there are also single cells.

All inmates have 24-hour access to toilets and there are card phones on each unit.

It is around 80 miles from the Archer family home at Grantchester near Cambridge but is remote for visitors.

The prison only provides transport from Boston rail station six miles away on weekends.

Visiting times are on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 2pm to 3.35pm and there are random strip searches after visits.

Mark Leech, chief executive of ex-offenders’ charity Unlock, said: ‘‘It’s considered to be a cushy little place and he won’t have any problems there.’’

He said he believed Archer, who is appealing against his conviction, had been given preferential treatment.

‘‘He is a long-term prisoner with lots of money, he is also an appellant and he has been convicted of an offence which is a breach of trust.

‘‘If he was treated the same as any other prisoner he would not have been downgraded. I find that extraordinary.’’