Lagos — British government will foot the bill for housing inmates in a new prison it plans to build in Nigeria for hundreds of its criminals convicted in the European country.

British officials are already negotiating the terms in alks with Nigerian government on modalities in running the jailhouse, which will cost£1 million to build. This is also expected to pave way for at least 400 prisoners to be transferred home, The British Times reported.

Nigerian government said it is happy with the UK plan to help refurbish prisons to allow Nigerians in Britain's jails to be sent back home.

But a British official said investment was needed because conditions in Nigerian jails were too poor for UK prisoners.

Such conditions would allow prisoners to block their transfer on human rights grounds.

Spokesman of the Nigerian Prisons, Kayode Odeyemi, confirmed to Saturday Independent that high-level diplomatic discussions are on and diplomatic visits have been exchanged towards examining the workability of the project.

"The thing has been ongoing for sometime, the British people have been here to inspect our facilities and people from here have also gone there. I can tell you that Nigerian government has no objection to the project, but discussions are still being held," he said.

British government has been under pressure in recent years to send foreign criminals to their home countries as a result of lack of space that is fast bursting British prisons.

Human right groups have faulted prisons in Nigeria for their dreadful environments and the crowding of inmates. British law forbids transferring a prisoner from its soil to face ill treatment in another country.