An injunction could be served to stop prison officers striking on Monday but Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister said he hoped wiser heads would prevail.

Talks lasted just a day with prison officers indicating the break down was down to the Labour Relations Officer.

Asked what had stopped Wednesday's talks Prison Officers Association Chairman Michael Tuzo said: "It wasn't our decision."

But Mr. Lister said it was totally irresponsible to blame the Labour Relations Officer.

He said: "He went trying to get them into the room.

"How can you blame a man whose job is to phone you and ask for a meeting and fix a time?

"How can you blame him when the meeting doesn't take place when he phoned you repeatedly?

"They met Wednesday, they had a good enough meeting but with little progress.

"I am confident we won't have a strike because reason would have prevailed and the men and women of the prison service will ask themselves what they want to accomplish."

Officers met on Thursday night but yesterday Mr. Tuzo was staying tight-lipped about what the union would do when its 21-day strike notice expires at midnight Sunday.

If it looked likely Mr. Lister said an injunction was "always a possibility".

Having the regiment control the prison would be a last resort said Mr. Lister so the Police would be more likely to assist if the strike went ahead.

The POA issued the notice after passing a no confidence motion against Prison Commissioner John Prescod and complaining he had failed to implement 23 out of 35 recommendations made following a Board of Inquiry into the service in 2001.

Prison Officers have called on Prison Commissioner John Prescod to go but Mr. Lister said he would be staying put.

"I wouldn't have that on my agenda at all."

He said Mr. Prescod had been the pick of the bunch out of a batch of four very good overseas hopefuls.

"There was an agreement in Commission of Inquiry that we should look abroad.

"His experience and track record will deliver what we need. I'd be very unhappy to go to second best when we have the best.

"The centre of the dispute should be, and must be, the pace of implementation of recommendations of the commission of inquiry from three years ago."

Prison Officers are angry at the pace of change but Mr. Lister said the POA had said 15 out of the 32 recommendations had been reached while prison management put it at more than 20.

Either figure was good going, said Mr. Lister.

How to accomplish the remaining recommendation was what was needed, said Mr. Lister.

"We have lost a lot of time," said Mr. Lister. "It's important we get the two parties together."

He said trouble brewing in the fire service a few years ago had been quelled after labour relations consultant Arlene Brock got the sides talking and working on a plan for improvement.

"We have asked that Ms Brock do the same for this scenario.

"We have attempted to get her there for over two weeks but we are not getting a response from the POA at all until we were delivered a 21-one day strike notice.

"Now that's just bad faith to start with that the POA sought fit to conduct themselves in that manner.

"I don't know if their membership are fully aware of that but that's what happened.

"Today we are trying to get the sides together and we would still like this opportunity of having Ms Brock as our resident expert to pull the two sides together and have a delivery schedule that everyone can buy into. I am working on the basis that we won't have a strike and that level heads will prevail."

More was expected of prison officers now Government was trying to rehabilitate rather than just incarcerate inmates, said Mr. Lister.

"It was lock them up and stroll down the hall and don't worry about it. We are no longer there. This country is too small to attempt to throw people away and history has shown us you don't succeed in throwing them away. They come out worse, more angry, more violent." He said officers were being asked to train and change work patterns and had backed Government's vision and would do so again when current problems were sorted.