LORD Jeffrey Archer was today moved to a Suffolk prison, just three weeks after being sent to a high-security "hellhole" for repeatedly breaking prison rules.

By Tracey Sparling

LORD Jeffrey Archer was today moved to a Suffolk prison, just three weeks after being sent to a high-security "hellhole" for repeatedly breaking prison rules.

The disgraced former Tory party deputy chairman arrived at HMP Hollesley Bay near Woodbridge this afternoon.

The windswept 350-inmate jail has been dubbed "Holiday Bay'' by some inmates because of its seaside location, relaxed regime and modern facilities.

Some cells even have sea views.

The millionaire novelist - who got into trouble for using a home visit to attend a champagne party held by former Tory colleague Gillian Shephard, and for identifying fellow inmates in his prison memoirs - is expected to serve the rest of his sentence at the Suffolk jail.

But prison sources said that unlike Archer's previous stay at North Sea Camp open jail in Lincolnshire, he will not be allowed to work outside the prison.

Jail chiefs are keen to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing scenes when Archer was seen around Lincoln dining in fine restaurants during lunch breaks from his backstage job at the Theatre Royal.

In Hollesley Bay, 62-year-old Archer will have his own cell with toilet and wash basin.

Conditions are a stark contrast to Lincoln jail where he has spent the last three weeks locked up for 22 hours a day.

Editor of the Prisons Handbook, Mark Leech, said today: "He has left the Victorian hellhole of Lincoln and found himself in an open prison with all the best facilities and a reputation for leniency. The two jails really are chalk and cheese.

"I'm surprised to see Lord Archer returning to open conditions only a few weeks after he was returned to Lincoln for allegedly breaching his temporary release licence and, what's more, only a few days after he pleaded guilty to disciplinary offences."

He added: "Normally, prisoners have to be free of disciplinary reports for a period of three months before going to open conditions.

"Once again it seems Lord Archer has been treated differently from everyone else and that cannot be in his interests or that of the Prison Service."

At 1,500 acres, Hollesley Bay is the largest jail in the prison estate and has its own dairy herd, stud farm and arable crops.

Archer, or prisoner FF8282, was jailed for four years last July after being convicted of perjury during a libel case against the Daily Star.

Prison bosses have already made clear that if Archer publishes another volume of his prison memoirs while still inside he will be sent straight back to a closed jail.

He is expected to earn £300,000 from the prison diary which details his first three weeks inside London's high security Belmarsh prison.

In a disciplinary hearing last week Archer admitted breaking prison rules and was told he would lose his £10-a-week prison wages for a fortnight and be banned from buying items from the prison canteen. The punishments were also suspended for six months.