NEW trouble has flared at Erlestoke Prison near Devizes just days after a report highlighted a lack of experienced staff at the jail.

The latest problem at Erlestoke today came after specialist riot-trained officers were deployed to another prison for the

second day running after inmates reportedly seized control of a wing.

As the new disturbance erupted at HMP The Mount in Hertfordshire, staff also had to resolve an incident at HMP Erlestoke in Wiltshire.

The Prison Service confirmed that staff had successfully resolved an incident involving a small number of prisoners at HMP Erlestoke on Tuesday.

The trouble flared less than a week after figures laid bare the scale of the safety crisis that has engulfed jails across England and Wales in

the last year.

There were 26,643 assaults in the 12 months to March, including a record 7,159 attacks on staff - equivalent to nearly 20 every day.

Campaigners and watchdogs have issued a catalogue of warnings about violence, drug use and overcrowding across the jail estate.

Last month Peter Clarke, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, said staffing levels in many establishments are too low to maintain order and

described the conditions some inmates are held in as "squalid, dirty and disgraceful".

The Prison Officers Association called for an independent review. Mark Fairhurst, Acting National Chairman of the POA, said: "The Prison

Service is in disarray; this type of unrest underlines the problems in our prisons and has significant ramifications for the taxpayer and local

community."