What Wigan prisoners will eat on Christmas Day including sausage, tikka masala and turkey

But some people will be spending the festive period behind bars and will not be able to celebrate with their loved ones.

So what will they be eating on December 25?

A Freedom of Information request made to the Ministry of Justice by our sister website Manchester World has revealed what’s on the Christmas Day menu in Greater Manchester’s prisons.

Among them is HMP Hindley, a prison and young offenders’ institution in Bickershaw which holds around 700 male inmates.

The prison, which was originally a borstal, was the only one to provide a Christmas breakfast menu.

As well as cereal and milk, baked beans and hash browns, prisoners can expect a halal, non-halal or vegetarian sausage, with a boiled egg.

For lunch, turkey with the trimmings is on the menu, alongside halal tikka masala with rice, smoked haddock fish cake and Quorn meat-free roast. Christmas pudding or vegan apple cake are the choices for dessert.

Prisoners will also be given an “Xmas Pack”, containing things like a pot noodle, mince pie and can of pop.

Explaining the menus, a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Meals in prisons over Christmas and New Year are paid for from within the existing budget and at no extra cost to the taxpayer. Prison rules require that prisoners are provided with three meals a day that are varied and nutritious and that meet the religious, cultural and medical needs of all.”