Jail staff feel 'unsafe' in struggle to keep control

PRISON officers are "working their socks off" to keep control in Scotland's jails after the population hit a record high, a trade union has said.

- By Craig Paton

The comment came as latest figures showed there was a total of 8,391 prisoners currently north of the border.

Yesterday, speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, the assistant general secretary of the Scottish Prison Officers Association, denied jails were not "out of control" but admitted his members were struggling to maintain order.

Phil Fairlie was speaking after the union released a report based on a survey and focus groups with members.

He explained: "The biggest worry for us just now is staff, I think, feel unsafe inside the prisons, I don't think they feel they've got proper control.

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"I don't mean that the prisons are out of control, but they are working their socks off every single day to try and keep that control."