Isle of Wight it hosting three prisons: Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst, all located outside Newport near the main road to Cowes. Albany and Parkhurst were among the few Category A prisons in the UK until they were downgraded in the 1990s. The downgrading of Parkhurst was precipitated by a major escape: three prisoners (two murderers and a blackmailer) escaped from the prison on 3 January 1995 for four days, before being recaptured. Parkhurst enjoyed notoriety as one of the toughest jails in the United Kingdom, and housed many notable inmates including the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, New Zealand drug lord Terry Clark
Transport on the Isle of Wight saw the start of bus services, with the Isle of Wight Express Syndicate operating a circular service running between Newport, Shanklin, Sandown and Ryde. The Vectis bus company was formed in 1922. At first it used only double decker buses; however a review found that island roads were not always suitable, and so single deckers were used instead (double deckers were re-introduced in 1936). In 1929, the Vectis Bus Company was bought by Southern Railway, forming Southern Vectis. After 1968 it became part of the state-owned National Bus Company. In 1986 with privatisation, the bus company was bought by its