Women in Sussex are much less likely to be jailed than those in some parts of England and Wales, new analysis reveals.

Analysis of court data by the charity found 85 prison sentences were given to women in Sussex last year – equal to 12 per 100,000 who live in the area.

This was a decrease on the rate of 14 per 100,000 in 2018 and was much lower than elsewhere in England and Wales.

The rate of female imprisonment in South Wales was 62 per 100,000 inhabitants, meaning women there are around five times as likely to be in prison as in Sussex.

Surrey had the lowest rate, with just nine women in prison for every 100,000.

The ten areas with the highest rates of female imprisonment were in the north of England, the Midlands or in Wales, with almost all the lowest ten in the South of England.

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said progress is being made at the national and local level to reduce the unnecessary imprisonment of women, but described the statistics as evidence of a “postcode lottery”.

He added: “The majority of women sent to prison are still being sent there for non-violent offences to serve sentences of less than one year. These sentences can have a devastating impact on women and their children without doing anything to address the causes of offending.

“Worryingly, the latest prison population projections suggest that recent progress could be undone with numbers of women in prison predicted to rise by 1,300 within six years.

“Sustained investment in community alternatives for women and a sharp reduction in the use of short sentences are urgently needed.”