THESE are the distinctly non-festive surroundings where people will spend some of the Christmas and New Year period if they are arrested in Gwent.

Ahead of Christmas, Gwent Police gave the Argus exclusive access to their custody unit.

“Please behave yourself this Christmas or you could end up in one of the cells,” said Gwent Police sergeant Roland Giles.

The unit, located in Gwent Police’s central station in Cardiff Road, Newport, has 28 cells and has at all times, three sergeants and seven detention officers working in 12-hour shifts.

“After being arrested, detainees are brought here,” said Sgt Roland Giles. “Before they are booked in, they may kept in the holding area.”

From there, they are taken to the unit’s main desk, where a sergeant or a detention officer greets the detainee and registers why they have been arrested.

They are then searched and have their rights read out to them.

“They’ll be kept in the cell while officers are carrying out investigations,” he said. “We have cameras in each cell and around the police station.

“Prisoners are supervised at all times and cells have a mechanism that monitors the prisoner’s breathing – if it stops, an alarm goes off.”

Gwent Police custody detention officer Leanne Gay said that regardless of whether the person gets charged or not, they take their fingerprints and a picture.

She said: “We don’t need ink anymore, we have a machine.

“We take their fingers, thumb, palm and side.

“If the person has been arrested before, it comes up straight away. Within seconds, you can know who they are.

“They only get drug tested for certain offences.

“We’re trying to reduce drug taking and offending related to it.”

The unit has two types of units – some with high beds and some with lower beds for detainees who are drunk or under the influence of drugs, so that they don’t fall out.

Prisoners don’t get pillows, just a blanket.

“Once in the cells, prisoners have the option to get some fresh air in the courtyard,” Sgt Giles said.

“They can walk around, which is important as the cells are quite small.

“In terms of meals, prisoners get three meals a day and we’ve strict food times. Breakfast is at 7am, lunch at noon and tea at 5pm.

“They get meals such as cottage pie or lasagne.”

Sgt Roland Giles said that detainees can be kept for up to 96 hours without charge and that weekends tend to be busier.

He said that, if all the cells are full, there are other units in Gwent where prisoners can be taken to.