London, Sep 11 (IANS): Around 1,700 prisoners in England and Wales are set to be released early, as part of a government scheme to reduce overcrowding in prisons.

This is in addition to the around 1,000 prisoners normally released each week.

According to official figures from last week, the prison population in England and Wales surpassed 88,500, reaching a record high while leaving only about 1,000 free spaces in prisons.

The early release policy is one of the short-term measures in the government's plans to ease pressure on prison capacity, especially following the recent riots in the wake of the Southport stabbing in July, which had further strained prison resources, Xinhua news agency reported.

Those being released early are prisoners serving sentences of less than five years. They are now eligible for release on license after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, down from 50 per cent under the previous law.

Although the policy does not apply to those serving sentences for certain sexual, violent, domestic abuse, terrorism and national security offences, it has raised some worries.

Baroness Newlove, the victims' commissioner for England and Wales, said that the situation is "distressing for many victims who rightfully expect offenders will serve the sentence handed down by the court."

"I am concerned about the impact of these early releases on victims' confidence in our justice system," he said, adding that some victims have been left "unaware" of their offender's early release.

Despite the government's pledge to exclude certain domestic abusers from the scheme, some victims have been notified of their abusers' release.

"I worry that it might not be possible for every victim to be notified of their abuser's release and I fear they may be left blindsided, without the time to seek vital support and guidance," the Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs said, adding that there is "no justice" in allowing such offenders to be released early.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this was "the only option left on the table" as the alternative would have been to "allow the prison system to collapse and therefore to allow law and order in this country to collapse."

She blamed the last government, saying they "dodged difficult decisions and left our prisons in crisis."

According to the government's short-term measures to quickly free up prison spaces, around 5,500 offenders will be released in two tranches over two months, with the second batch scheduled for release on October 22. The government has also planned to accelerate the building of new prisons.

However, even with new prisons being built, the Institute for Government has projected there could be a shortfall of 8,000 prison places by 2028.