RECORD levels of overcrowding have been reported by Risley prison amid a national jail population crisis.

At the start of July, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warned that without immediate action, prisons would run out of space within weeks, causing a ‘total breakdown of law and order’.

Plans set out by Ms Mahmood will see thousands of prisoners released earlier than planned as the Government attempts to avert the ‘collapse’ of the prisons system.

Newly released Ministry of Justice figures show 125 inmates, or 12.3 per cent of all prisoners at Risley prison, were living in crowded cells as of March.

This was up from 10.8 per cent on the previous year for the category C prison on Warrington Road, and the highest level seen since records began in 1999.

The situation is less severe at HMP Thorn Cross, which is among a minority of jails not breaking its inmate limits.

Figures show none of the 425 prisoners at the open prison, on Arley Road in Appleton Thorn, were living in overcrowded cell as of March.

It was one of 43 prisons which did not report any instance of overcrowding last year, while nearly two thirds of prisons in England and Wales faced the issue.

Across England and Wales, the prison overcrowding rate rose to 23.6 per cent from 22.9 per cent in 2022-23 – a five-year high.

Figures have been released for HMP Thorn Cross

Figures have been released for HMP Thorn Cross

Currently, the majority of prisoners serve 50 per cent of their sentence in jail, with the remainder served on licence.

The Government plans involve a temporary measure to reduce that to 40 per cent in an effort to reduce overcrowding.

This measure is expected to result in 5,500 offenders being released this September and October.

The temporary measure will not apply to individuals convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse and some violent offences.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League of Penal Reform, welcomed the early release scheme, saying: “It is vital that pressure on overcrowded prisons is reduced as a matter of priority.

“The sensible way to protect the public is to ease pressure on a system that has been asked to do too much, with too little, for too long.”

It is warned that long-term solutions must be found soon, as the prison population is projected to rise further.

Estimates by the Ministry of Justice suggest that there will be an increase of between 94,600 and 114,800 by March 2028.