AN INSPECTION of a newly rebuilt maximum security jail has made recommendations for improvement but says it is "functioning well".

Brigadier Hugh Monro, Scotland's chief inspector of prisons, said Shotts Prison is well managed and well run.

He made 51 recommendations for change on issues from storage facilities to the quality of the pillows and the food on offer.

At the time of the inspection in March this year, the jail had 536 prisoners, of whom 254 were serving life.