Sussex's prisons are proving their reputations for drugs and violence are outdated by scoring highly in an annual performance report.

Both Lewes Prison and Ford Open Prison have achieved almost all their performance targets for 2004-05, according to the Prison Service Annual Report.

Lewes Prison, in Brighton Road, Lewes, caters for up to 545 prisoners mainly on short-term jail sentences or remand.

Published on July 19, the report shows the prison exceeded targets for the number of inmates who gained basic skills awards and started and completed drug treatment programmes. The percentage of inmates who tested positive in mandatory drug tests was 11.48 per cent - 3.82 per cent lower than its target.

While more than a quarter of inmates were held in over-crowded conditions, this was still less than the target of 29 per cent and the number of assaults as a percentage of the average population was less than half the target of 5.8 per cent.

One suicide was recorded and the only target the prison missed was the number of prisoners who found a job, training or education within one month of leaving Lewes. The target was 231 and Lewes managed 217.

Governor Eoin McLennan-Murray said: "If you come into Lewes, you would be pleasantly surprised. It is not hostile and depressing. It is light and airy, the prisoners are chatty and the staff are buoyant and interacting well with prisoners. I think the report reflects accurately the hard work put in by staff to make Lewes what it is."

He said an aggressive anti-drugs policy, small payments to prisoners for attending classes just as they would receive for doing jobs and a decency programme to improve behaviour had worked well.

Mr McLennan-Murray hopes to create a dedicated resettlement unit next year to ease prisoners back into the community.

Ford prison, near Arundel, caters for up to 541 inmates.

The report noted very high achievement in the number of prisoners achieving skills awards. The prison trounced its target of 974 with a total of 1,466.

There were improvements in the number of inmates testing positive for drugs. About 13.5 per cent of inmates tested positive, compared with its target of 18.3 per cent.

However, the prison did not meet targets for the number of prisoners starting and completing drug treatment programmes and the number of serious assaults as a percentage of the average population was 1.5 per cent, compared with a target of 0.4 per cent.

It also failed to meet targets for resettling ex-prisoners in the community after their release.

While the report said no prisoners had "escaped" from Ford, because it is an open prison with no perimeter fence the term cannot apply. The Argus reported in January prisoners were sneaking out to buy alcohol.

The Board of Visitors' annual report for 2004 said the number of absconders had trebled in recent years, totalling about 11 a month in January.

Governor Fiona Radford said at the time: "We recognise we still have improvements to make."