GREENOCK'S crumbling prison could be condemned and closed amid a slew of 'absolutely terrifying warnings' about its condition with no replacement in sight, an MSP has declared.

Labour's Katy Clark is demanding answers to 'urgent' questions after a Holyrood's Justice Committee was told that the cost of maintaining the rundown 112-year-old jail — which has scores of uninhabitable cells — now 'outweighs its value'.

West Scotland MSP Ms Clark has written to justice secretary Keith Brown following comments made by chief inspector of prisons Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, who described the condition of HMP Greenock as 'shocking'.

Ms Clark said the closure of the prison was now 'almost inevitable'.

She added: "The Scottish Government needs to urgently set out a clear contingency plan if this comes to pass.

"There must be a clear plan for the prison population and the workers at HMP Greenock."

The Telegraph revealed in April last year that the jail was operating at a fraction of its capacity after 40 cells were declared unfit for human habitation due to water ingress.

This came just four months after we told how plans to replace the decaying Edwardian structure had been shelved until at least 2026 — despite £8m being spent on a proposed site in the south west of the town way back in 2011.

The Scottish Prison Service has decided that replacements for Barlinnie and Inverness prisons are more of a priority.

MSP Ms Clark — who is due to visit Greenock Prison next month — said: "I am extremely concerned by the situation at HMP Greenock and have repeatedly raised this issue with the Scottish Government.

"The fact is that the inspectors believe the cost of maintaining the prison at this point outweighs its value, such are the significant health and safety concerns.

"However, the economic impact of the prison's almost inevitable closure is barely being discussed, given it will mean the loss or relocation of hundreds of jobs.

"This will be disastrous at a time when people are struggling and Inverclyde Council is reporting significant financial difficulties due to budget cuts."

Prison chiefs spent millions of pounds of public money on acquiring the site of the former Greenock High School off Inverkip Road for a proposed new prison more than a decade ago.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in 2015: "I would hope that, in the not too distant future, there would be clarity.

"Nobody wants to have a big site doing nothing for an extended period of time.

"It's in nobody's interests.

"We'll try to bring clarity as soon as possible."

In her letter to Mr Brown, MSP Ms Clark says: "Last year, the jail was identified in an inspector's report as 'breaching human rights guidelines'.

"Ms Sinclair-Gieben has said another inspection is to be held in March and that, 'if it's in the same condition that it was on our last inspection, I will be pulling the Health & Safety Executive in with me'.

"These are absolutely terrifying warnings."

The MSP has told Mr Brown that waiting for years before acting 'would be incredibly dangerous'.

She has asked the justice secretary to explain what contingency planning is in place for a closure, whether the Scottish Government has earmarked funding for a replacement, what work has been done for prisoner transfers, their impact on the justice system and what effect closure would have on the Inverclyde economy, as well as what is being done to 'immediately improve' conditions at the prison.

The Scottish Government declined to comment specifically on Greenock, however, a spokesperson said: "We are committed to modernisation of the prison estate.

"The Scottish Prison Service will receive £97m in capital funding to continue the modernisation of the prison estate in 2023/24.

"We will continue to support the SPS to deliver a stable and secure prison system."