Asylum centre unsafe says prison watchdog

The country's biggest holding centre for asylum seekers is unsafe and unstable, Britain's prison watchdog says today.

The Harmondsworth centre near Heathrow has rising levels of disorder, assault, attempted escape and damage, says Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers.

Her team found it has no facilities for a "lock down" - closing off areas and confining prisoners to their rooms to prevent a riot. Bedfordshire's Yarls Wood centre was closed until last night after unrest last year led to a devastating fire.

Harmondsworth's suicide awareness officers were unaware there had been 11 suicide attempts in the month leading up to the inspection. Programmes to curb bullying and self-harm were poorly managed, the inspectors said.

Their report says Harmondsworth - run by UK Detentions Ltd on an eightyear contract - is "neither a safe nor respectful environment". The centre was built to handle 3,000 detainees a year but now deals with 12,000.

Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes said the inspection, carried out last year, raised serious issues would be studied.