Mouse plague 'invades' Wellington prison, forcing hundreds of prisoners and staff to evacuate

Mice are decaying in walls, eating wires and damaging the ceiling in the jail. (ABC Western Plains: Nick Lowther)

Buses have begun to hit the road after the New South Wales mouse plague forced the evacuation of one of the state's largest prisons.

Dead mice are decaying in the Wellington Correctional Centre, near Dubbo, and have caused extensive damage to infrastructure, and there are now concerns about inmate health and safety.

Over the next 10 days, 420 prisoners and 200 staff will be relocated while the site has a deep clean, is repaired and is protected against future plagues. 

Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) expects the centre to be out of action for about four months.

CSNSW Commissioner Peter Severin said other regional jails would take on the evacuees, starting with those facilities closest to Wellington. 

Remediation work will look into ways to protect the centre from future mouse plagues. (Supplied: Corrective Services NSW)

"Prisoners will go to various locations across the state according to their classification," he said. 

Mice have been in the prison since last year when the plague broke out, but their numbers have recently grown.

"The mice start decaying and then the next problem is mites and we just don't want to expose staff and prisoners to anything that could cause harm to their health," Mr Severin said. 

Three vehicles were expected to move prisoners on Tuesday, with female inmates first to be relocated either to Bathurst or Broken Hill. 

Many inmates will also be relocated to the neighbouring Macquarie Correctional Centre.

Three truckloads of female inmates are expected to be relocated to Bathurst and Broken Hill jails today. (ABC Western Plains: Nick Lowther)

Remediation works get underway

The Wellington Correctional Centre will have scaled back operations as some workers and prisoners will be redeployed to deep clean the site and repair infrastructure. 

Meantime, a number of tradespeople moved onto the site on Tuesday to begin work. 

Mice have chewed through wires, making their way into staff and inmate areas in recent months.  (Supplied: Corrective Services NSW)

Staff will be given the option to work in other jails in the western region or to undertake training. 

The Assistant Commissioner of Custodial Corrections Kevin Corcoran said one of the most important steps that crews would take was ensuring the prison was not shut down again in the event of another plague.

Last month the acting Governor of the Correctional Centre, Justin Quinn, said inmates and staff were working together to control an infestation of mice by using a combination of sticky pads and baiting. 

"Realistically, it's going to take a massive change in the weather, which we're seeing now with a few frosts, which'll help clean up the problem as well," Mr Quinn said.