A DESPERATE mother, whose son is in Erlestoke Prison, says she constantly receives messages from drug dealers from inside the jail demanding she pays them money.

Susan Brooks says she has reported the texts and calls to the prison but has received no backing for her bid put a stop to the demands.

She said: “His drug taking has got much worse since he has been in Erlestoke.

“He has run up bills with drug dealers inside the prison and must have given them my number and told them I would pay because he was desperate.

“But I am not going to do that. I want the prison to take action. I have contacted Erlestoke but not had any response.”

She got in touch with the Gazette after receiving a letter from her son in which he told her he was too frightened to come out of his cell in case he was attacked by those he owes money to.

She said: “He said there were too many drugs in Erlestoke.”

She admits her son, 35, is ‘no angel’ and had committed new offences while out on licence which had meant he was returned to prison.

She said: “I am feeling desperate and worried about what might happen to me, as well as to my son.”

In November 2017 prison governor Tim Knight was told by inspectors he and his staff must get to grips with the use of the drug Spice, which it said was causing violence, bullying and a sense of hopelessness among inmates at Erlestoke, near Devizes.

Peter Clarke, HM chief inspector of Prisons, said the jail had clearly deteriorated since it was last inspected in 2013.

He was particularly worried about the amount of the synthetic cannabis substance Spice, and said that safety in the prison was not good enough. He said: “Much of the violence and bullying was, in our view, linked to a significant drug problem, and yet the prison lacked an effective drug strategy.

“Work to confront and reduce violence was weak and unco-ordinated, and staff confidence and competence in ensuring reasonable challenge and supervision needed improvement.”

In recent months the prison has been working with Devizes police to crack down on drugs being taken into the prison and several people have been prosecuted.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “We are aware of a complaint made by the relative of a prisoner at HMP Erlestoke and are taking steps to resolve the matter. Anyone found with a mobile phone in prison can expect to face significantly longer behind bars.”