Brookfield has said it will bid for one of the three 2,500-place Titan prisons being planned by the government to cope with the rising prison population.

The Ministry of Justice wants to expand capacity at the country鈥檚 prison system by 10,500 places and is hoping the first Titan prison will be up and running by 2012.

Ashley Muldoon, the managing director of Brookfield鈥檚 construction business in the UK, said the firm, which recently changed its name from Multiplex, would bid for one of the contracts.

Muldoon added: 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at prisons and hospitals. We鈥檝e done a lot of prisons back in Australia.鈥�

The firm is coming to the end of a A$140m (拢61.1m) contract to build two hospitals at the Long Bay correctional complex in Sydney.

Other firms expected to tender for the jobs include Bouygues, Wates, Carillion and Interserve.

The Titan prisons, which will be procured using a PFI-style process are likely to be built in London, the West Midlands and the North-west.

Muldoon said Brookfield is also planning to bid for a 拢200m PFI deal to relocate Papworth hospital on the outskirts of Cambridge to a more central location in the city.