The Britain's Ministry of Justice has been considering to grant voting rights to some prisoners, The Sunday Times reported.

Prisoners sentenced to less than a year in jail and who are let out on day release will allowed to return home to vote after Justice Secretary David Lidington decided to end the existing total ban, according to the newspaper.

The plans, it said, were circulated to other ministers last week. It will allow convicts who are let out to attend resettlement training and perform community service to vote if they are still on the electoral roll.

A senior government source told the Sunday Times that this plan would only apply to "hundreds of" prisoners who remain on the electoral roll and are let out on day release.

"These are not murders and rapists. No one will be allowed to register to vote if they are still behind bars," said the source.

The decision has sparked accusations that the government has gone soft on crime. Conservative MP Peter Bone, who called it a "bonkers decision", said, "I am not in favour of letting prisoners vote. I think a lot of MPs will be concerned about this."

The move follows a 12-year dispute between the UK and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg which has repeatedly ruled the blanket ban breaches prisoners' human rights. The former British prime minister David Cameron once said the thought of prisoners being given the vote made him feel "physically sick".

A government spokeswoman said: "We do not comment on speculation. Our policy on prisoner voting is well established -- it remains a matter for the UK to determine, and offenders in prison cannot vote."