Radon was detected at HMP Dartmoor forcing the prison to shut 184 cells (Picture: PA)
A Devon prison have been forced to shut down more than 180 cells and transfer several inmates after radioactive gas was detected.
Radon, an odourless and colourless gas that can lead to lung cancer, was found at HMP Dartmoor.
It’s thought almost 200 inmates were transferred to other prisons as a result.
The prison service has not said how many cells were shut and prisoners moved, but official figures state that the capacity of the facility fell by 184 places between November last year and February this year.
Figures also show that in the same period, 194 prisoners were moved out of the jail.
The dangerous gas was first detected in 2020 yet the Ministry of Justice have said measures to try and tackle the issue weren’t put in place until 2022.
The Labour Party, which revealed the figures this week in a series of questions to ministers, said it was ‘shocking that the government’s mismanagement of the prison estate means they are having to reduce the number of prison places during a capacity crisis’.
The dangerous gas was first detected at the prison in 2020 (Picture: Getty Images Source:/Corbis Historical Copyright/Andrew Aitchison)
Ruth Cadbury, MP and shadow prisons minister, said: ‘This dangerous gas was first detected in 2020, and yet the Ministry of Justice have said that measures weren’t put in place until 2022.
‘Ministers need to explain why it has taken over two years for them to act.
‘After 14 years in power and a dozen prison ministers, our prisons are out of control and the Government need to get a grip.’
Radon is produced by decaying radioactive materials in rocks and soils and is responsible for around 1,000 lung cancer deaths a year.
It is thought to occur more often in areas with high concentrations of granite, such as Dartmoor.
Answering Labour’s questions on behalf of the government, justice minister Edward Argar said the Prison Service is ‘continually investing in the prison estate to ensure that prisons remain safe, decent and secure’.
Shadow prisons minister Ruth Cadbury asked the government why it took two years to take action against the gas (Picture: UK Parliament)
Mr Argar said elevated radon readings were first detected in subterranean areas adjacent to the kitchen and workshops HMP Dartmoor.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: ‘A number of prisoners have been relocated as a precautionary measure after routine testing revealed higher than normal levels of radon.
‘This is a temporary measure while work to permanently reduce radon levels is completed and there are no safety implications to staff or prisoners who remain on site.’
In December, a report by Dartmoor’s independent monitoring board warned the prison was understaffed and overcrowded, and arguably ‘not fit for purpose’.
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It also pointed to radon first being detected in 2020, and claimed ‘it is only in this year that some actions have been taken while further monitoring is undertaken to inform future decisions’.
Earlier this week it was reported that an ‘incredibly vulnerable’ young girl held in a young offender’s institution was pinned down and stripped by an all-male group of correctional officers on two separate occasions.
Officers at the Wetherby institute for young offenders in West Yorkshire forcibly restrained the girl as she was attempting to self-harm but did not ensure that a female officer was present, according to a report.
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