Police station cells used for convicts after prisons fill up

A RECORD number of prisoners had to be kept in police cells last Monday as the overcrowding crisis behind bars intensified.

- By Michael Knowles Home Affairs Editor

Some 124 inmates were held at a cost of nearly £688 per day as male prisons in England and Wales were at 99% capacity.

The emergency measures, called Operation Safeguard, are triggered when prisons are close to capacity.

They come six months after Labour's decision to release thousands of inmates to ease overcrowding.

Risk

The prison population stood at 87,556 as of Monday, according to the Ministry of Justice.

This is the highest weekly figure since a record 88,521 last September.