DARTMOOR Prison?s bleak fortress image is about to get an overhaul, according to its first female governor who takes over the reins on Monday.

At the age of 36, Claudia Sturt is one of the youngest governors in the country and she is relishing the task of leading Dartmoor Prison into a new era.

Claudia, who has been in the prison service for ten years, has been appointed to advance the work of present governor Graham Johnson and his team who have made many improvements since a damning report two years ago (see page 11.)

Claudia is currently in charge of Erlestoke Prison in Wiltshire, which is smaller than Dartmoor. She said she had secretly been hankering after the job at Dartmoor as she grew up on the moor.

?I am looking forward to coming home,? said the former Ashburton resident. ?It all happened rather quickly ? I got a call a few days ago asking if I would like to take up the post and I jumped at the chance.

?Dartmoor Prison has just had a pretty positive report and I think the Prison Service felt it was time for a clean break.

?An enormous amount of work has been done by my predecessor, particularly with the resettlement unit which is the jewel in the prison?s crown, and it was felt that somebody new could come in and give a fresh impetus.?

She said the jail?s reputation had often lagged behind the good work that was being done and it was her aim to ease Dartmoor smoothly into its Category C status as a training prison.

?Dartmoor has always had a problem shaking off that granite fortress image and so this is one of the challenges for me,? added Claudia.

?A Category C prison means a lot more resettlement work and more interaction between staff and prisoners, and this can only be good for the prison.

?When you consider there are 73,000 people in prison at the moment and all but 26 will come out at some stage, we need to prepare these people for society so they are not a problem when they come out.?

Being a woman in a male-dominated occupation is not something that bothers the new governor. In fact, she feels it is an advantage.

?I have always worked in male prisons with male staff and it has never been a problem,? she said. ?I have been treated really well and in many ways I have found it easier to have a co-operative relationship with people by approaching situations with a feminine mix of skills.?