Probation union Napo has welcomed support from service chiefs after a national newspaper revealed letters to Justice Secretary Chris Grayling warning his privatisation plans would result in deaths.

Mr Grayling intends to sell off 70 per cent of the probation service to dodgy security companies by April 2014.

But it was reported yesterday that the chairs of Warwickshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire probation trusts have told him to slow down ill-conceived plans. 

All three reportedly wrote private letters to Mr Grayling stating that he must delay his privatisation programme for at least six months or face inevitable protection failures and risks to public safety.

A Napo spokesman said it welcomes the support. He said: “The timetable for the implementation means that there is little or no infrastructure in place to enable a fully functioning service to be in up and running by April 1 2014.

“The time spent by trusts in rushing through the implementation means that current service delivery is being affected.”

According to the report Derbyshire trust chairwoman Gillian Wilmot said the sell-off would lead to “more systemic risks and more preventable serious attacks and deaths.”

Warwickshire Probation Trust chairman Robin Verso is said to have warned the Justice Secretary that “performance is bound to be damaged and public protection failures will inevitably increase.”

Probation officers will stage a 24-hour strike on November 5 in protest at the privatisation.