World Prisons
All prisons

United Kingdom · South East England · Sussex

HMP Ford

Open (Cat D)MinimummaleLowHigh
Verified 22 May 2026 · Data dated 1 Dec 2025
Fresh · 7d ago

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

For families

How to send mail, money, and visit HMP Ford

Step-by-step guidance using the United Kingdom system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.

Open toolkit
Photograph of HMP Ford

UK Open (Cat D) prison operated by HM Prison & Probation Service. Listed in the GOV.UK Find a prison directory.

Background

HM Prison Ford (informally known as Ford Open Prison) is a Category D men's prison, located at Ford, in West Sussex, England, near Arundel and Littlehampton. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

540

Current population

Occupancy

Year opened

1960

Operational

Facility profile

Operator

HM Prison & Probation Service

Population held

male

Opened

1960

Region

South East England

Security level

Minimum

Death-row facility

No

Conditions

HMI Prisons publishes independent inspection reports on roughly a 3-5 year cycle.

Visiting

Visits booked online via the GOV.UK Prison Visits Booking service. Photo ID required. Visit frequency varies by the inmate's IEP level.

Mailing

Format: Prisoner Name & Number, HMP Ford, HMP Ford Arundel West Sussex BN18 0BX See map Help us to improve this page. Give us your feedback in this 2-minute survey .. Use Send Money to a Prisoner (GOV.UK) for funds — cash not accepted.

Practical info

Assisted Prison Visits Unit can help with travel costs for eligible families. Email a Prisoner service is available via the official website.

Known issues

Contact & address

HMP Ford Arundel West Sussex BN18 0BX See map Help us to improve this page. Give us your feedback in this 2-minute survey ., Sussex BN18 0BX

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

0/100
Low concern0/100
Overcrowding
0/30
Oversight reports
0/30
Structural flags
0/15
Death signals
0/15
Conditions text
0/10

Compared to other facilities in United Kingdom

583 peers
Conditions risk scorethis: 0/100 · peers avg: 4/100 (100%)

Higher risk than 0% of peer facilities in United Kingdom.

Capacity (beds)this: 540 · peers avg: 636 (15%)

Data completeness

94%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources