Archer moved back to an open prison

Jeffrey Archer was moved back to an open prison yesterday after a three-week sojourn in the more austere environment of Lincoln Prison.

The novelist and former politician's new home is Hollesley Bay, a category D jail near the picturesque town of Woodbridge, Suffolk. Archer was sent to Lincoln after breaking his release conditions at another open prison by attending a party at the home of the former Conservative cabinet minister Gillian Shephard.

Prisoner FF8282 will be able to take a 25-minute ride on the 83/84 bus with other inmates and head into Woodbridge. The town epitomises John Major's vision of a Middle England full of warm beer and morning mists. The local MP is John Gummer, one of only three MPs who have written to Archer since he was jailed last year for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

But the prospect of the disgraced peer becoming a familiar sight in Woodbridge hardly filled its inhabitants with glee yesterday. "Maybe he could get a job as the back of a pantomime horse," said one customer at a café outside the Riverside Theatre, a possible source of day-release employment for Archer.

"[His arrival] doesn't bear thinking about," said a member of staff at the bookshop Browsers, which does not stock Archer titles because they "don't sell".

Derek Jarman, manager of Woodbridge's Tourist Information Centre, said Archer's arrival would not boost tourism. "He doesn't deserve it. He is a criminal and should be in jail."

But the chief projectionist at the Riverside Theatre, John Galek, said he would be happy to give Archer a job, though whether there was a role for him in the Christmas pantomime, A Knight In Camelot, was debatable. "He's not dangerous, he's not a murderer and at least he's saying what he thinks about prison conditions," he said.

Hollesley Bay prison has a good reputation for food, but should Archer prefer to dine in town, he is most likely to be found in the 16th century brasserie, the Captain's Table. Hugh Eastman, the assistant manager, said he would be happy to receive Archer as "any other guest", albeit one with a reputation. "As long as he pays his bill, I don't mind."