Archer's fall: Prisoner spends his first full day at Belmarsh

There was no porridge waiting for Jeffrey Archer when he was awoken at 8.30 on Friday morning after spending his first night as a convicted felon at Belmarsh high-security jail in south-east London.

Instead, his breakfast, which had been left overnight in his cell, consisted of slices of bread, a carton of jam, a small packet of cereal and some milk, sachets of tea and coffee and a flask of hot water.

He ate what the Prison Service optimistically describes as a "continental-style breakfast" alone in his cell, which is fitted with a bed, desk, chair, cupboard, sink and flushing lavatory. Like the serial killer and former GP Harold Shipman, who spent a brief time at the jail, he is believed to have been immediately moved to the healthcare unit where prison officers can keep a closer watch on one of their most famous inmates.

His morning was spent learning the ropes at the intimidating jail, home to 837 prisoners. Archer is expected to spend up to two weeks at the jail before begin classified a D or low-risk inmate and moved to an open prison.

As part of the induction system for all new boys at Belmarsh, the bestselling novelist was given a talk yesterday about the prison regime and what courses and facilities the jail can offer.

He was told about the Samaritan scheme, the gym facilities, when he can have a shower – usually once at the end of the day – and asked whether he was interested in working or further education. The two possible jobs he was offered were packing tea bags or assembling parts for electrical devices. Alternatively he could volunteer to become a cleaner, orderly or librarian.

Among the classes he can join during the morning and afternoon are lessons on English, business, computing, maths, health and social skills. He might instead opt for vocational classes in painting and decorating, computing or industrial cleaning.

By 11.30am he was back in his cell which, unlike some inmates, he does not have to share. Lunch was served at about midday, with a selection from a choice of five dishes, typically stew, chilli beef, a pie, risotto or a sandwich.

At about 1.45pm he was unlocked and continued his induction course and shown the library where he can borrow books once a week, the tuck shop where chocolate and fruit can be bought, the gym and television room.

According to one former inmate at Belmarsh the ex-Tory party deputy chairman had already made quite an impact at the prison while he was held there during his trial.

An inmate called Dell, 21, who was released from jail yesterday after finishing a one-month sentence for deception, said: "Everyone thought he would get off as he's a lord, so everyone is excited about him coming to the prison. Word only spread about him coming yesterday afternoon."

Dell went on: "My mate Clint met him in the hospital wing last night. Archer came up to him and shook his hand and said, 'Hello I'm Jeffrey Archer'.

"Clint said, 'I know'. Clint said he was very excited that Archer had bothered to say hello."

He added that he did not expect Archer to be the target of physical violence. "The prison officers will protect him and won't let any prisoners get to him," Dell said.

By 5pm yesterday the disgraced ex-MP was returned to his cell for his evening meal. The menu is slightly more elaborate than lunchtime, with typical fare being spaghetti bolognese and garlic bread, steak and kidney pie, beef casserole and dumplings, and steamed fish. For desert there is pie and custard, chocolate sponge, rice pudding or fruit.

Having consumed his supper he was allowed back out on to the wing until 8.30pm, in which time he showered before retiring for the night.

Most inmates are assessed by the jail and given a risk category within two weeks and allocated a prison. Because of the sensitivity of Archer's case it would not be surprising if he was shifted out of Belmarsh within about a week.

He is most likely to end up in either the North Sea Camp open prison near Boston, Lincolnshire, which would allow visits by his wife, Mary, from their family home in Cambridgeshire, or possibly Latchmere House in Richmond, south-west London, the nearest low-security jail to his riverside apartment.

He will have to stay at the open prison for at least two of the four years for which he was sentenced before he is eligible to be released on parole, and will be automatically released after 32 months.

At the low-risk prisons the regime is far more relaxed and some inmates are even allowed to make unaccompanied day trips into town or work out of the prison in the day, returning to their cells at night. Inmates spend less time locked up and share a communal canteen, snooker hall, association and television room. There is far more emphasis on preparing prisoners for life on the outside, with job clubs and training schemes.

North Sea Camp was opened in 1935 and holds 213 inmates in fairly antiquated accommodation.

Latchmere House is considered a more desirable destination, with beds for 193 prisoners who are allowed out of their cells until midnight.

If Archer was to opt for work rather than education at the penal establishment he could earn up to £35 a week.

Survival strategies of the rich and famous

Tony Adams: The Arsenal and England captainserved two months of a four-month term in 1990 for driving offences. In his autobiography Addicted (HarperCollins 1998) he writes "I was treated well, mostly because I kept my head down. There was no television, so I would read Jeffrey Archer or Harold Robbins, until the sexy passages – they were doing me no good."

Lester Piggott: The legendary jockey served 366 days of a three-year sentence for tax evasion. "I spent that first night cold and very alone, my thoughts of the year ahead that held no promise. It was a massive waste of time," he says.

Paul McCartney: The rock star spent nine days in a Japanese jail when arrested for possession of marijuana during a Wings tour in 1980. "It was [a] very very scary experience... I became like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. My sense of humour and natural survival instinct started to kick in."

George Best: The footballer spent Christmas in Pentonville after being sentenced in 1984 to three months for drink- driving and assault. On release he said: "I'll never touch alcohol again."

Stephen Fry: As a teenager the acotr was sentenced to three months for credit-card fraud and was nicknamed "The Professor" by inmates. Said prison was not unlike public school.

Johnny Vaughan: The TV presenter started a four-year term in Stocken prison in Leicestershire and was released after two. "Going to prison gave me the chance to write and discover my brain. It taught me to value my freedom."