AN inspection of Hindley Prison has labelled it one of the worst of its kind in the country.

In an unannounced inspection in July, the men's prison, which houses more than 500 prisoners, deemed the regime which operated there as "one of the worst jails, and possibly the very worst, that inspectors had ever seen."

The prison houses adults sentenced to up to four year and young adults aged 18 to 21 serving sentences of over 12 months and up to four years.

In a damning report published today, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke said: "This is a very poor inspection report, but could easily have been even worse, if it were not for some positive things that were happening mainly in the non-residential parts of the prison, and energetic leadership being given by the new governor, it would have been hard to justify not awarding the lowest possible grades in all four of our healthy prison tests."

The report makes for grim reading, new prisoners were often held in grubby vans and in holding rooms for hours, before being admitted to the jail.

Many were then put into graffiti covered cells, which lacked basis equipment including furniture, TV's, kettles or pillows More than one quarter of the new arrivals (27 per cent) had mental health problems and were randomly allocated to cells across the prison.

Residential wings were dirty, some landings were filthy and inspectors found mould and fungus.

Prisoners struggled to access basic entitlements such as showers, clean clothing, bedding and cleaning materials.

Resettlement provision was limited and in some cases ineffective, due to diminished resources in the offender management unit, lack of integration of resettlement work across the prison and confused and disjointed work of the community rehabilitation company and pathway providers.

Levels of violence were high with 126 assaults in the previous six months, of which 26 were serious.

Over the same timeframe there were 75 incidents of self harm and the death of one prisoner in February.

Almost half the prisoners questioned (49 per cent), said drugs were freely available and 10 per cent said they had developed a drug habit while in jail.

Mr Clarke said: "According to our survey it was far easier to get hold of drugs in Hindley than it was to get clean clothes, sheets or books from the library."

A total of 1,533 disciplinary adjudications had been held, which was 'far higher' than similar prisons. Likewise the use of force which was 'very high' with 126 incidents (of which 86 involved the use of full control and restraint).

Mr Clarke said: "The regime operating at the time of the inspection was one of the worst we have seen in a Category C establishment. It affected every aspect of prison life, including education and work, substance misuse treatment, tackling violence and care for those in crisis."

Two thirds of prisoners said they received less than six hours a day out of their cells.

Mr Clarke explained: "The regime was totally inadequate, particularly for a training prison holding a young population.

"We observed regular cancellation of exercise, the evening meal being served at 4.15pm and examples of prisoners being locked up for the night at 5pm. In some instances prisoners spent just half an hour out of their cells in a 24 hour period.

"The frustration felt by prisoners was palpable and this was hardly surprising. Many were locked up all day."

When they were allowed out of their cells, "a mere 14 per cent of eligible prisoners were able to attend education", which affected their long term chances of employment after leaving prison.

Mr Clarke added: "To make progress, there needs to be a very clear recognition of what is good at Hindley, and also of where there needs to be fundamental change.

"Many examples of good practice could be found in the chaplaincy, education and health care. The same could not be said about the residential areas.

"There needs to be an honest appraisal of the culture that predominates among some staff in these areas.

"Inspectors were disappointed to be told things by some members of staff that were at variance with

the very clear evidence before us.

"The governor needs to be supported by his senior team in the delivery of clear, proactive and intrusive leadership. Those who choose to stand in the way of change should have their ability to do so diminished.

"There is no reason why Hindley should not become a safe, decent and respectful prison. There is

also no good reason why standards should be lower than at similar prisons.

"The recommendations are intended to address some serious issues, and they demand a serious response."