On a windy day, closing the hulking doors of Lewes Prison can be an epic struggle for the security guards.

A very different wind of change could be sweeping through the Victorian jail if new governor Eoin McLennan-Murray gets his way.

Mr McLennan-Murray has won admirers - and enemies - for his progressive approach to prisoners, preferring to reward good behaviour rather than punish bad.

In his first interview since taking over at Lewes, the 50-year-old father of three told The Argus the Prison Service should put more trust in convicts to reduce crime and record prisoner numbers.

Inspectors have labelled living conditions inside the 151-year-old prison's buildings "Dickensian" and "inhumane".

Mr McLennan-Murray was greeted by the grime and stench of long-standing damp when he arrived at his new offices last October.

Five Lewes inmates killed themselves during 2002.

That same year the Prison Service's annual report revealed Lewes had the worst drug problem in the country.

The problem was highlighted when warder Andrew Hubbard was jailed for operating a "mini drugs supermarket" behind bars.

However, Paul Carroll, Mr McLennan-Murray's predecessor, was praised for improvements at the category B jail.

Last year only one inmate killed himself and the number of positive drug tests was halved to 14.2 per cent.

The prison rose to fourth in the UK performance tables last year.

Mr McLennan-Murray was due to start last November 3 but arrived several weeks early after a disturbance broke out in A-wing on October 7.

Mr McLennan-Murray said it began when a prisoner became aggressive.

When staff withdrew from the room, about 30 inmates began smashing windows and furniture and flooded corridors.

Many other prisoners, however, retreated into their own cells until the Prison Service sent in its elite control and restraint team, backed by police, to reclaim control.

Mr McLennan-Murray was pleased with the staff response and demanded all glass in the prison be covered with a protective film to stop it breaking.

It was not the first time he had had to cope with the aftermath of a rampage inside a prison.

On an earlier occasion, however, prison officers were the ones wreaking havoc - causing damage costing £26,000 just hours after he had been removed from his job.

Mr McLennan-Murray recalls his time as governor of Blantyre House, Kent, as both "the high point of my career" and "devastating".

He allowed inmates at the resettlement jail to carry out work placements and use bank accounts, bank cards, even cars and mobile phones.

He said: "I learnt quickly these prisoners were being treated with respect and were willing to give it back."

One man who was not happy with the jail's performance, however, was area manager Tom Murtagh, who believed the governor was too soft.

Mr McLennan-Murray was told on May 5, 2000, that he was being transferred to HMP Swaleside in Kent to be deputy governor.

Hours after he left, 84 officers from nearby prisons raided Blantyre House, smashing down cell doors with sledgehammers and waking inmates to strip-search them.

Prison Service director general Martin Narey hailed the exercise for uncovering "a quite frightening amount of contraband" and prisons minister Paul Boateng referred to "98 finds of unauthorised articles".

It was later revealed the total haul was three mobile phones, which should have been left outside the prison, six pornographic magazines and £40.

A home affairs select committee investigating the raid praised Mr McLennan-Murray's style of governing and ruled: "The search was not a proportionate response to the intelligence used to justify it."

Mr McLennan-Murray said: "It was an appalling episode for the Prison Service and I'm upset they haven't had the courage to come out and say it was a bad judgment call. It was a devastating experience for me."

He spent 18 months on secondment to the Department for Education and Skills before being tempted back into the Prison Service when Mr Murtagh retired in April 2002.

Since coming to Lewes, Mr McLennan-Murray has reorganised schedules to encourage more inmates to spend their time productively.

Anyone wanting to work but unable to get a place in one of the workshops is paid £2.50 a week. Those working can earn up to £10 a week.

What progress there has been tackling illegal drug abuse has also encouraged a market in prescription drugs.

Mr McLennan-Murray would like to open a 27-place dedicated detox unit, to separate those receiving treatment from others who simply want the drugs.

A more extensive expansion, however, is still on hold with the Home Office still to decide whether to fund a £10 million development plan drawn up more than two years ago.

The proposals are for a new accommodation building and the refurbishment of F-wing, which houses the most vulnerable prisoners.

That could increase the prison capacity by 160 to 170.

Mr McLennan-Murray would like fewer custodial sentences for non-violent crimes such as theft, burglary and drug abuse.

He said: "If someone has a job and a home then goes to jail for a short sentence, the chances are they won't have them any more when they get out, which will make them more likely to reoffend. And the average prison place costs the taxpayer about £25,000 .

"Many people who get fined don't pay their fines. Why not make people work for the community without pay? That would be restorative justice. Also, we can look at things like electronic tagging and home detention curfews.

"I think more progressive ideas are gaining momentum across the system but a proper culture shift will probably take a while.

"I do remember, though, a real hardened con with all sorts of previous convictions, a real East End villain, who later told me, 'The more trust you're given, the harder it is to abuse'."