New crisis in our jails

Overcrowding in Britain's jails reached a new crisis point today as the Prison Service announced it was using police cells to house some inmates.

The move comes as jails struggle to cope with an all-time high prison population of 71,480.

The first police stations to be used are in the Midlands and Yorkshire but other areas may follow.

It is the first time police cells have been used for seven years and highlights the growing crisis as courts have responded to political rhetoric on crime by jailing people in record numbers.

It will fuel claims that too many prison sentences are being given out for relatively minor offences.

A Prison Service spokesman said women, juveniles and high-risk inmates would be unlikely to be housed in police cells and in most cases it would be for "no more than a few days".

Custody duties will be carried out by constables rather than prison staff, putting further strains on police resources.

Overcrowding was named by Prison Service director-general Martin Narey as one of the causes of rioting in jails in Dorset, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire in May.

Home Secretary David Blunkett wants courts to rely more on community-based sentences, reserving jail time for violent and repeat offenders.