Braised pig cheeks with lime apple jelly and lobster and crab quenelles are not what come to mind when you think of a prison dinner.

But television viewers learnt these are just some of the meals available on the menu for diners at HMP High Down.

The Clink is a gourmet restaurant at the heart of the Category B prison, where all of the chefs and waiters are serving prisoners.

The restaurant in the Surrey prison, was the subject of a BBC documentary on April 26, and showed prisoners being given the opportunity to learn about food preparation and food service.

Inmates also have the chance to gain qualifications and get a full-time job within the hospitality industry on their release.

Opened in 2009, the restaurant is managed by professional chef Al Crisci, who carefully selects the prisoners who are taught how to cook and wait tables, as part of their rehabilitation.

Inmates are paid £2.10 a day and earn 50p more a week, than those working in the kitchen where prisoners’ food is prepared.

Writing on the BBC’s food blog Mr Crisci, a former chef at Mirabelle in Mayfair, said: “Some might say it is a gimmick.

"But I say we rehabilitate prisoners by teaching them to cook, wait tables and behave in the correct way. Hopefully we are saving the taxpayer money and helping to build a better society for all of us.”

Not all prisoners take full advantage of the potential new start, with some breaking the rules of no smoking and of no taking food and drink without permission. But for others it has led to a job in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Mr Crisci added: “The most fulfilling part of my career as a chef has not been the West End restaurants and hotels I worked in, but passing on the things I learned in the prison kitchens.”