A BEHIND-the-cell-door look at life in Britain's only "boot camp" has provoked mixed reactions at Thorn Cross Young Offenders' Institution.

Documentary makers from Channel 4's Cutting Edge team tracked the progress of an intake of inmates as they completed the 25-week long High Intensity Programme.

Viewers watched on Monday night as teen tearaways were given a taste of military-style discipline, with parade-ground style drills, and rigorous room inspections.

But although John Thompson, the governor in charge of the initiative, believes the fly-on-the-wall feature was entertaining, it did not show the complete picture.

He told the GUARDIAN: "It was not a true reflection because it did not reflect what the programme was about.

"The documentary was entertaining but it was certainly not informative or investigative.

"It made it look as if things were happening which we did not know about or were not on top of," said Mr Thompson, highlighting that action was always taken for misdemanours which was sometimes not stressed in the programme.

He added: "It has not done us any harm. There was a certain amount of licence."

Not every inmate lasted the course - one featured was moved to another jail over allegations of bullying and another absconded but was recaptured soon after.

The cameras followed young offenders on a character-building course to Snowdonia and the audience saw inmates being forced to look closely at their criminal past.

Thorn Cross will come under the microscope again later this year when the Cambridge Institute of Criminology publishes a progress report into the boot camp regime.

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