Deerbolt Prison: visits, calls and family info

Someone you care about is in Deerbolt Prison. Here is how to book visits, get the phone calls going, and send money in, with links to the official pages for the details that change.

Where it is

Deerbolt Prison is in County Durham. Postcode for sat navs: DL12 9BG. Get directions from where you are.

Plan for longer than the sat nav says. You usually need to arrive 45 minutes before the visit starts for checks.

Getting there by public transport

• Nearest train stations: Frosterley Rail Station, 12.7 miles away, too far to walk; Wolsingham Rail Station, 12.8 miles away, too far to walk.
• Nearest bus stops: Royal Star (Startforth), about 7 minutes on foot; Grangefields (Startforth Park), about 7 minutes on foot; Deepdale Gardens (Startforth), about 7 minutes on foot.

Walking times are rough estimates from straight-line distance. Check timetables before you travel, especially for weekend visits.

Booking a visit

How to book

• Online: book through the official page (the quickest way for most people).
• By phone: 01833 633 349 .

If they are on remand you can usually book straight away. If they are convicted, they must send you a visiting order first. Children can visit, and many prisons run relaxed family days: see children and prison.

What to expect at the gate

• Every visitor aged 16 or over must prove who they are. Check the list of accepted ID before you go.
• Everyone gets a pat-down search, including children, and a sniffer dog may check you.
• You must follow the prison's dress code (no ripped clothing, nothing too revealing, no hoods up).
• You can take in very little. Leave most things in a locker or your car, usually including pushchairs and car seats. Bring coins for the locker and the café.

Phone calls

They ring you, from approved numbers only, and they pay for the call. Your number has to be submitted and checked first, which takes days: see why numbers take time to approve. Once calls are flowing, most families can cut the cost sharply: check the call cost calculator and the cheaper calls guide.

Not heard from them? Our contact tool works through the common reasons.

Sending money and things in

Money goes through the free official service, Send money to someone in prison. You need their prisoner number and date of birth. There is a weekly cap on what they can spend: see how much is worth sending. For letters, photos, clothes and books, read what you can send in, then check Deerbolt Prison's own rules on the official page before posting anything.

What inspectors found at Deerbolt Prison

Independent inspectors visit every prison, test it against four standards, and publish what they find. This is from the most recent full inspection of Deerbolt Prison, in March 2025:

From the full HM Inspectorate of Prisons report, where each standard is scored from poor up to good. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Things can change quickly after an inspection, for better and worse.

Every prison also has an Independent Monitoring Board: ordinary people who go in regularly and publish a yearly report on daily life inside. Worth a read if you want more detail.

If money is tight

On a low income, the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme can pay your travel to Deerbolt Prison, and hardly anyone claims it: check if you qualify.

Contacts and complaints

Contact Deerbolt Prison

Worried about someone right now

If you fear for a prisoner's safety, ring the prison on 01833 633 200 and ask for the Safer Custody team or the orderly officer, and say it is an emergency. For urgent family news like a death or serious illness, ask for the chaplaincy. The free Prisoners' Families Helpline (0808 808 2003) can help you reach the right person.

Making a complaint about the prison

As a family member you cannot use the prisoner's internal complaints system, but you can raise concerns. Contact the prison first (01833 633 200) and keep a note of who you spoke to. If it is not sorted out, these are independent of the prison:

• The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) for Deerbolt Prison: unpaid volunteers who go into the prison regularly and can look into concerns. Find its contact details through imb.org.uk.
• Your local MP, who can raise matters with the prison and the Ministry of Justice on your behalf.
• The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) investigates every death in custody, and complaints from prisoners once they have finished the internal process. If someone has died in custody, contact the PPO directly.

The official steps are set out on GOV.UK: making a complaint about a prison.

How the prisoner makes a complaint

The person inside asks a member of staff for a complaint form (often called a "COMP 1") and can put in a complaint about almost anything. If they are unhappy with the answer, they can escalate it, and then write confidentially to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. They also have confidential access to the Independent Monitoring Board and to their own MP, which staff cannot read or block. Serious safety issues can go straight to Safer Custody.

Useful official links

• Official Deerbolt Prison page (times, rules, contacts)
• Book a visit online
• Send money to someone in prison
• Find a prisoner
• Staying in touch: the official rules
• Help with the cost of visits

The bigger questions

When will they get out? Can they get a tag? What happens to the benefits? Start with the release date tool, the tag checker and the benefits checklist. And if it all just happened, read the first 48 hours.