A prison officer has hit out at his bosses after staffing shortages reached crisis point over the weekend.

More than 20 officers at Chelmsford Prison were called to work extra hours to cover for absent colleagues.

Tony Carter, chairman of the Prison Officers' Association at the prison, said that of the staff that should have been working five were on the long-term sick list, one was deputising for a senior officer and ten more had been hit by a mini flu epidemic.

Mr Carter also said two others due to work at the weekend had been suspended by the prison along with another officer.

"I can't lie, there are three suspended. But it would be wrong of me to a comment on them," said Mr Carter.

He added: "The governors should be careful about the sort of signal a suspension can send."

But according to Mr Carter, the suspensions are just part of a bigger situation.

"We have to maintain a minimum level of staff for the safety of inmates and the general public. In order to maintain that, 22 members of staff had to extend their shifts this weekend. Management have allowed this state of affairs for too long," he said.

At present, working officers are running the prison with nine fewer officers than usual, which means that 351 hours have to be made up every week, said Mr Carter.

But even though prison bosses have acknowledged the problem, Mr Carter said he could not see things getting too much better.

"I have been told unofficially that five new staff will be joining us in January, but that's not going to wholly solve the problem."

No-one from the prison service was available for comment.

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