ARCHER'S REALLY DOING BIRD NOW

SHAMED peer Jeffrey Archer is a real jailbird now... he's taken up falconry.

The ex-Conservative Party chairman discovered his new passion at Hollesley Bay Open Prison in Suffolk - nicknamed Holiday Bay by inmates because of its lax regime. He was moved there on October 17 after breaching day release conditions at North Sea Camp prison in Lincolnshire.

His new jail has 10 birds of prey housed in a large hut close to the entrance. He is allowed to go hunting with a mixture of kestrel hawks and peregrine falcons as part of a rehabilitation scheme.

Last night a prison source said: "Jeffrey has taken a real liking to going out with the falcons. The other day he took them out rabbit hunting with another inmate in fields near the prison. Inmates are only allowed to take the birds once a week. Some tease Jeffrey that he's now got a bird on the inside as well as quite a few on the outside."

Archer has already been granted two home visits a month from his new jail.

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