Inmates are strolling out of the front door of an open prison every week and not bothering to come back, The Argus can reveal.

A Prison Service insider has revealed to The Argus that there have been 11 escapes from HMP Ford in the past two weeks.

The shocking statistic comes after The Argus revealed yesterday that five foreign prisoners due for deportation had absconded since the weekend and that a total of 96 prisoners had escaped from Ford in the 21 months to April.

MP Nick Herbert, whose constituency includes the open prison, near Arundel, has called on Home Secretary John Reid to bring about reforms to improve its poor record.

He said: "It's obviously unacceptable that any offenders are leaving but I am particularly concerned about foreign nationals leaving.

"I know for certain that one of these, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for dealing hard drugs, walked.

"The Home Office is in complete chaos and the whole system - which allows prisoners who are unsuitable for open prisons, ones which are going to walk out - needs overhauling."

Last year The Argus reported that inmates were arriving back from trips out with smoked salmon, beer and bottles of whisky.

In 2004, 100 prisoners escaped from Ford and in 2003 official figures put the number at 127.

Ronald Field, chairman of Ford Parish Council, said: "We used to have regular meetings at the prison with the old governor to talk about issues like these but we haven't had an invite for a few years now."

The Home Office yesterday refused to reveal the total number of escapees from Ford since 2000 although officials did confirm that 2,935 inmates had absconded from all open prisons in England and Wales since 2003 and that a quarter had not been recaptured.

The latest revelations are likely to heap further pressure on the embattled Home Office and increase pressure for reform of the prison service.

Chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, Colin Moses, called for a "root and branch" review of the system.

It is thought many prisoners simply do not arrive back from various trips out of the prison, including work schemes.

Bus company Stagecoach and coach firm Compass have used prisoners from Ford to drive vehicles in and around Chichester.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Open prisons are the most effective means of ensuring prisoners are tested in the community before they are released.

"To release prisoners directly from a closed prison without the resettlement benefits of the open estate would undoubtedly lead to higher levels of post-release reoffending."

He said: "Time in open prisons affords prisoners the opportunity to find work, re-establish family ties, reintegrate into the community and ensure housing needs are met."

Fiona Radford, HMP Ford's governor and other staff at the prison refused to comment.