A report by Chelmsford Prison's Visitors Board is set to highlight overcrowding

Chairman Neil Orr said the issue was one that the Board is "extremely concerned about."

Last week it was revealed that the prison in Springfield Road was almost at saturation point.

On Tuesday morning last week the prison was holding 572 inmates. Its operational capacity is 576.

The jail was designed to hold 442 but has had to take another 30 per cent extra in numbers like jails all over England and Wales.

Mr Orr said the 135 more prisoners being accommodated in Chelmsford was being done with no increase in staff or facilities.

"The aim is to send the prisoners out better than they came in but if they are not able to receive the same levels of help with educational facilities and workshops, that cannot be the case. Everyone suffers both staff and inmates."

Published Monday October 14, 2002

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