HMP Leeds 'unsafe and severely overcrowded'

HMP Leeds holds more than 1,100 prisoners

Prison inspectors have branded HMP Leeds "violent, unsafe and severely overcrowded" and said illegal drugs are "easily available" in the jail.

A report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) found 91% of cells at the prison in Armley are used to hold more inmates than they were designed to.

It found about a third of inmates failed drugs tests and 20% reported developing a drug problem in jail.

Decisive action was being taken, prison service chief Michael Spurr said.

At the time of the inspection, the Victorian-built prison held 1,127 inmates against a "certified normal capacity" of 669.

More stories from across Yorkshire

Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: "Unlike far too many local prisons, Leeds had not slipped dramatically backwards in terms of its performance in recent years.

A report by Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke said HMP Leeds had made "no improvement" since 2015 in terms of safety, respect or rehabilitation

"While it had not managed to buck the trends in violence and the prevalence of drugs that have afflicted much of the wider prison estate, neither had it experienced the shockingly high levels of increase seen in many other prisons."

The report, based on an inspection at the end of 2017, comes two years after inspectors also ruled the prison unsafe.

It said that since the previous inspection in 2015 there had been "no improvement" in safety, respect or rehabilitation

Despite the "troubling findings", the report said there were "grounds for optimism".

Mr Clarke praised the work of staff and prisoners who operated a maintenance service in the jail and said the prison was generally clean despite its age and overcrowding.

He also said there was an "energetic and focussed" leadership team who he praised for keeping levels of violence from worsening.

Michael Spurr, chief executive of HM Prison & Probation Service, said "decisive action" was being taken to tackle the issues.

He said a "specialist intelligence unit" had been set up in the prison to target drug suppliers and staff had been issued with body-worn cameras in an effort to reduce violence.