Lack of improvement in prisons 'hardly surprising'

The chief inspector of prisons in England and Wales has said the prison service should "start taking our recommendations seriously".

Peter Clarke, who launched his annual report earlier, has warned that youth custody centres are so unsafe that "a tragedy" is inevitable.

The Ministry of Justice have said that to ensure the recommendations and those of the Prison and Probation Ombudsman are "driven forward", they are forming a "new unit".

Mr Clarke told the World at One that throughout his tenure he had heard of a lot of "new units" being formed and said: "I hope they all deliver on what they intend to".