Britain's jails are at breaking point and left vulnerable to riots due to overcrowding, staff shortages and 'great levels of violence' ex-prisons watchdog warns

Britain's overcrowded, understaffed and crumbling jails are vulnerable to riots, a former chief inspector of prisons warned today. 

Nick Hardwick warned 'we are very close to the conditions prior to the 1990s Strangeways riots' and said the 'general level of frustration' was so high that it only required a 'spark' for a serious incident. 

The Strangeways riot began on April 1, 1990 and lasted for 25 days, with inmates trashing the jail and sitting on the roof to protest about poor conditions. One prisoner died and 147 officers injured, while rioters caused £133million of damage.

Mr Hardwick said the present state of UK jails, with prisoners locked in their cells for '20 hours-plus a day' and 'great levels of violence', was the background to recent incidents such as the escape of Daniel Khalife from HMP Wandsworth last year. 

• Do you work inside Britain's prison service or have information about prison failings? Contact rory.tingle@mailonline.co.uk 

He told The Times: 'I was in Wandsworth a bit before the ­escape and it was obvious that it was going to happen. They just didn't have the staff to run it.  

'I'm very used to going into prisons and I thought, ''This is just not a safe place.'' It was out of control. I'm not surprised that someone ­manages to evade security and get out.' 

The prison population has risen by 93 per cent over the last three decades to 87,000, and last month there were just 500 prison places available in England and Wales.

In response, the government has enacted emergency measures, such as releasing offenders 60 days early and delaying sentencing hearings. 

The overall number of operational prison officers increased by 1.3 per cent in 2022/23, according to official data. 

However, this still leaves total staff levels 10% below 2009/10, while the number of prisoners per operational staff member has increased to 3.8 in June 2023, from an estimated 3.5 in June 2010 - according to analysis by the Institute for Government.

Charlie Taylor, the chief ­inspector of prisons, last year warned that overcrowding had led to 'deprivation, ­squalor and [a] risk of further violence' while also increasing the time inmates spent in their cells rather than on 'purposeful' activities. 

His recent inspection of HMP Bedford revealed paint peeling off the walls of dirty cells, scraped and battered doors and – in one part of the prison – a 'cockroach game' where prisoners recorded how many of the pests they had seen.

He wrote in the report: 'If our prisons are truly going to protect the public, then they must be able to play their part in supporting men and women to move on from offending.

'Penning people in squalor for 23 hours a day with no meaningful access to education, training or work, or to fresh air or exercise is not going to achieve that, as the levels of violence and self-harm at Bedford attest.'

Former prison governor Ian Acheson said overcrowding can have other negative results, including reducing the number of officers available for important tasks like testing for drugs. 

As MailOnline revealed yesterday, prisons are carrying out so few drugs tests that officials have stopped publishing data on the number coming back positive. 

Every year jails are rated according to how well they are performing on a series of measures, including how many mandatory drugs tests come back positive.

But the latest statistical bulletin for the year 2022/23 has redacted the figures because there are so few tests being carried out.

The busiest prison in the country is Leeds, which is currently operating at 173 per cent capacity. 

This is followed by Durham (169%), Wandsworth (163%) and Lincoln (162%) – which all have a Category B security rating. Preston, Bradford, Leicester, and Doncaster are all at over 150% capacity.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'This Government is delivering the biggest prison expansion programme since the Victorian era – including opening two new prisons in two years – to help rehabilitate offenders and keep our streets safe.

'At the same time, our efforts to boost staffing means there are 4,800 more frontline officers than in 2017 and our £100m investment into tough security measures is helping clamp down on the contraband that fuels violence behind bars.'

Do you work inside Britain's prison service or have information about prison failings? Contact rory.tingle@mailonline.co.uk