Birmingham, Bedford and Lewes prison riots followed 'low staffing warnings'

Specialist teams were seen leaving the prison on Saturday

A series of riots followed repeated warnings about low staffing levels across prisons, a watchdog has said.

The National Council of Independent Monitoring Boards said Friday's riot at HMP Birmingham was "yet more evidence" to stoke concerns over prison violence.

Its president John Thornhill warned low staffing levels meant prisoners were denied a range of facilities.

There were incidents at Cardiff Prison and Hull Prison on Sunday involving Birmingham prisoners, it has emerged.

At Cardiff about four prisoners, who were transferred from Birmingham after the riot, were believed to have barricaded themselves into a cell in protest at the move, according to BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw.

After two hours the matter was resolved when the prisoners surrendered and were taken to the segregation unit. Nobody was injured.

As well as the incident at Hull Prison, there were minor outbreaks of trouble at several other jails over the weekend.

Friday's riot at Birmingham was the third in English jails in under two months, following trouble at Bedford and Lewes prisons.

'Worst since Strangeways'

In Birmingham, riot squads and specially trained prison officers took back control after more than 12 hours of chaos.

Stairwells were set on fire and paper records destroyed during trouble in four wings of the category B prison, run by private firm G4S.

For more Birmingham and Black Country news

The disturbance, which is understood to have involved up to 600 inmates, was described by the Prison Officers' Association as the worst since the Strangeways jail riot 26 years ago.

Mr Thornhill said independent monitoring boards, which operate in every prison in England and Wales, have regularly questioned staffing levels.

He said they were "frustrated" by a lack of response to the issues raised in their annual reports.

Mr Thornhill said "tension and violence" increased when facilities were denied.

"The result, as we have seen in recent weeks, is an increase in riots that damage the system and individuals," he said.

Liz Truss will address MPs on the riot in Birmingham later

The chairman of the Parole Board has warned that the prison population must be reduced to avoid further rioting.

Justice Secretary Liz Truss is to address MPs over the Birmingham riot later.