Winchester Prison: 'Urgent' repairs and safety improvements planned at 'dilapidated' site

"Urgent" repairs to cells and an immediate review of CCTV are to be carried out at a prison so "dilapidated" an inmate managed to "remove his own cell door".

Winchester Prison will also have extra staff and better safety training to tackle violence and improve safety while a new prison-wide strategy will be used to tackle drug use at the site, the Ministry of Justice says.

Last month, the Chief Inspector of Prisons gave the Hampshire prison an Urgent Notification after finding high levels of violence, poor living conditions, and inadequate support for prisoners, including issues with drugs and self-harm.

It found "weaknesses in physical and procedural security", with one wing of the Victorian prison so "dilapidated" an inmate had "been able to remove his own cell door".

In March, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said prisoners had been able to dig through walls using plastic cutlery.

An action plan aimed at improving safety and conditions, published by the Prison Service on Thursday, included more frequent cleaning schedules and urgent repairs to cells damaged by mould and vandalism.

Nine of the current cells will no longer be used after a rapid audit of prisoners' accommodation to make sure it is all "fit for purpose", the service said in a statement.

Staff have been tasked with carrying out a "comprehensive survey" of the facility's CCTV systems by the end of November "to ensure they are operating effectively".

A new drug policy will begin to tackle "the high number of illicit drugs entering the jail and help more offenders beat addiction".

More staff will also be deployed "to help reduce violence and improve safety on the wings".

Under the plans, all new prisoners will be offered a phone call within 24 hours of arriving, improving the ratio of one in four inspectors highlighted in October.

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Systems will be improved to ensure calls can be made to families outside normal business hours, helping offenders maintain communication with their loved ones, "which is crucial to their rehabilitation".

Inmates will also get more time outside their cells and more access to education and training courtesy of the extra staff.

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Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons and Probation, called the "dire" situation at the prison "another symptom of the prison crisis we [the Labour government] inherited.

He said the action plan will mean staff "have the support they need."

Five prisons across England and Wales have been given Urgent Notifications from HM Inspectorate of Prisons in the last year.