New plans have been released for an important historical building in Reading as its new owner speaks out. 

Reading Jail, lovingly known by locals as Reading Gaol, will be transformed into a hotel, museum, and art gallery.

Chinese businessman Channing Bi who bought the site from the Ministry of Justice for £7m in January, estimates the project could cost about £100m.

According to the BBC, some parts of the prison are Grade II listed but Mr Bi said if Reading Borough Council granted planning permission, the work could be finished in just two years.

Mr Bi, who founded the Ziran Education Foundation, said he has other business interests that will help “to support this project" financially.

He said it will not require a loan and the costs would not be offset by building flats on any part of the site.

The prison, built in 1844, has been empty for more than 10 years.

When talking about what inspired him to purchase the prison Mr Bi said: “The prison’s history makes me think that freedom is very important.”

Oscar Wilde spent two years at the jail after being convicted in 1895 of gross indecency - effectively for being gay.

He spent the last three years of his life in exile in France, where he composed his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, describing an execution at the prison.

In 2021, a portrait by the celebrated street artist Banksy appeared on a prison wall.

The image showed a prisoner escaping on a rope made of bedsheets tied to a typewriter.