The debate surrounding the standard of care at HMP Prison Erlestoke near Devizes has deepened - as a senior board member has been urged to resign.

Earlier this year, inspectors found "troubling" conditions at the facility, including violence, indiscipline and cases of self-harm. Some inmates in the segregation unit were held in cells without running water or toilets for weeks at a time, the report found.

Nicholas Rheinberg is chairman of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at HM Prison Elesoke and also is the holder of a Judicial Office as assistant coroner for Wiltshire.

IMB members are independent and unpaid members who monitor day to day life in their local prison to "ensure proper standards of care and decency are maintained."

Mark Leech, who is director of the Prison Oracle, has written a strongly-worded letter calling on Mr Rheinberg to resign over what he believes were problems missed by the IMB.

Mr Leech, himself an ex-prisoner, claimed the board permitted “degrading, unlawful and unacceptable” conditions at the prison.

He writes: “So appalled and shocked was HM Chief Inspector of Prisons by what he discovered at HMP Erlestoke that on August 26 he took the rare and highly unusual step of writing immediately to the Secretary of State for Justice, pointing out te dreadful unlawful conditions he had discovered."

Mr Rheinberg responded: "Over the last few years the IMB have been very concerned at the poor performance of GFSL, the organisation responsible for repairs at HMP Erlestoke.

“We became aware of the fact that prisoners in the Segregation Unit had smashed their cells including the lavatories. We were in regular contact with the prison and GFSL to have the damage repaired and this was undertaken but only after an unacceptable length of time. I am pleased to say that recent management changes within GFSL have improved the situation."

In 2019, IMB at HMP Erlestoke released a report that found that prisoners were treated “fairly and humanely due to a responsive management team.”

The concerns they did identify concerned that a lack of sufficient escorts has meant that some prisoners have had to wait lengthy periods for hospital appointments. They was also concern over a lack of healthcare engagement by the prison, and over the“ageing and of poor quality" aspects of the building.