New psychoactive substance effect in prisons may reduce

An undercover reporter who spent two months at HMP Northumberland, which houses up to 1,348 male inmates, for Panorama, discovered widespread drug use, a lack of control, door alarms that did not go off in one block and a hole in an internal security fence.

Andrea Albutt, president of the Prison Governors Association, tells Radio 4's Today programme the lack of staff means it's difficult to tackle the problems but she says early tests indicate we may have gone through 'the worst' with NPS (new psychoactive substances) and their effect in prisons may be beginning to reduce.