GANG rivalry inside an institution for young offenders must be tackled before a major incident occurs, a new report has said.

The prison’s independent monitoring board, in its annual report to the Home Secretary, warns there is an increasing problem with developing factions at Hindley Young Offenders’ Institution.

The facility houses almost 500 young men aged between 15 and 21.

The board says that while there are several areas of good practice at the detention centre, systems need to be put into place to tackle the issue of gangs behind bars.

The report states: “An increasing number of young people and young adults are members of gangs in their home communities.

“The rivalry between such gangs has resulted in a number of violent, serious assaults and in the use of firearms to commit murder.

“This rivalry is mirrored within the prison and is often a cause of great concern particularly at times of unrest within the home community.” The board says that while security measures are in place to deal with outbreaks of violence, the underlying problem remains.

“This situation places extreme pressure on officers and staff and is probably the single greatest barrier to the provision of a safe environment for young people and young adults.” Board members say they are also concerned that delays in refurbishing the young adults’ residential accommodation has resulted in its deterioration and parts of the buildings are now unfit for use.

And they complain that escort services are often delivering offenders to the institution after 9pm, sometimes after the young people have spent several hours in transit from local courts.

The board praises the courtesy and consideration staff have for inmates and efforts made to cater for the needs of people with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

And they say staff should be congratulated for the success of a scheme to release offenders on temporary licence which has resulted in no “untoward” incidents in the last year. A Prison Service spokesperson said: “There are robust processes in place at Hindley Young Offenders Institution to disrupt gang activity and minimise the risk to young offenders and staff.

“Security intelligence gathering and information sharing with police enable staff to identify gang members, monitor relationships and ensure gang members are evenly distributed amongst the prison estate.”