Teenagers at risk of offending will be 'locked up' behind the bars at Preston Prison to give them a taste of life behind bars.

Youths will spend a day at the jail, talking to prisoners and looking round cells, as part of the Time For A Change scheme, launching next month.

The shock tactics aim to nip crime in the bud by changing young people's perceptions of prison before they commit offences.

Prison spokesman Gareth Cheetham said: "It's run by the offender management team and is similar to a scheme we had at one time called 'Prison, Me? No Way!'

"That involved prison staff going into schools. This is the other way round, bringing in people to prison who have been identified as being at risk of a criminal lifestyle.

"It's about experiencing the prison, the physical environment and what cells look like."

Young people referred to the scheme by a youth offending team will fill in forms on their perceptions of prison before their visit.

Small groups of youths and their parents will then be shown around the prison to see how it works.

They will be introduced to a small number of prisoners to find out why and how inmates got involved in crime and what life is really like behind bars.

Youngsters then fill in forms to see how their attitude has changed. Their behaviour will be monitored when they return to the community.

The previous scheme, Prison, Me? No Way!, worked with 4.5 million young people across the UK.

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