A new bid has been launched to purchase and develop Shepton Mallet Prison into a significant heritage site.

This will be entrepreneur Joel Campbell's third attempt to purchase the property since he conceived the idea in 2013.

Campbell's initial offer to buy the prison from the Ministry of Justice was not successful and instead the site was sold to a development firm, City & Country, for £200,000 in 2015.

City & Country aimed to convert the prison into a housing development, a plan that was later approved.

While attempts to collaborate with City & Country or lease the site as a tourism destination were not fruitful, Campbell was able to secure a 12-month lease on the prison from City & Country in 2017.

This led to the site's reopening and welcomed 45,000 visitors in the first year. Campbell successfully extended his lease by another 18 months after the initial term, allowing the site to remain open to visitors with increasing yearly numbers.

Despite the leases having 30-day break clauses, the prison continued to operate as a tourist attraction and gained recognition as a key destination in Somerset.

In 2020, Campbell made a second bid to buy the site from City & Country which was also turned down.

Faced with the decision to either close the business or take on a more costly five-year lease, Campbell chose the latter, preserving 15 jobs and keeping his ambition to purchase the prison alive.

On June 27, Campbell made a formal offer to City & Country to purchase Shepton Mallet Prison. A response to this proposal is pending.

Campbell stated: "This is my third attempt to buy this important heritage site. We've been operating the prison as a heritage site since 2017, growing despite various challenges. Purchasing Shepton Mallet Prison would enable us to invest significantly into the site, with the goal of transforming it into a globally recognised heritage site. There's a long journey ahead, but today's offer marks an important step in securing the prison's future."