Home Secretary David Blunkett is reviewing the open prison system after being warned about the high numbers who abscond from a Sussex jail.

Last week, The Argus revealed Ford Open Prison had one of the worst records in Britain for convicts who walk out and never return.

More than 50 prisoners who have absconded from the jail near Arundel since 1998 remain at large. Last year, 91 inmates left, more than five times as many as in 1994.

The revelation prompted concerns prisoners serving longer sentences and more likely to abscond were being sent to the prison.

Bognor and Littlehampton MP Nick Gibb, alerted to the issue by the Argus, last night questioned Mr Blunkett in the Commons.

He said: "The Home Secretary will be aware of concerns in the communities around Ford about the increasing number of prisoners who abscond.

"Although Ford is an open prison, to which only short-sentence prisoners or prisoners coming to the end of their sentences should be sent, it appears that longer-sentence prisoners are being sent there as the prison system becomes more overcrowded."

Mr Blunkett revealed he has asked the Prison Estate to carry out a review on the way open prisons are run.

He admitted: "We are not entirely satisfied that we have got the system right, although we reject the idea that the issue is new.

"There has been a programme of gradual scheduled movement to open prison and rehabilitation for the past 20 years, and we have no intention of reversing that, but we believe that far more scrutiny needs to be given to those who are placed in an open prison at a particular point in their sentence.

"Similarly, we should consider tracking and electronic monitoring of prisoners within the open estate.

"Transfer to an open prison is part of the transition back to the community, and given that we are making more extensive use of home domestic curfew, it seems reasonable to do the same in open prisons."

Mr Blunkett pledged he would take action against any "unsatisfactory incident" brought to his attention by Mr Gibb.