Moaning prisoners lodge 2,000 complaints in one year
Moaning inmates have complained about everything from food portion sizes and accommodation to low pay for working behind bars at Featherstone Prison, it emerged today.
Almost 2,000 gripes were lodged by inmates at the South Staffordshire jail in the space of just 12 months, new figures showed today.
Issues raised included problems over bullying, visiting rights and healthcare.
The New Road jail, which has a capacity of around 680 prisoners, received a total of 1,843 complaints between April 2011 and March this year, according to information released to the Express & Star through the Freedom of Information Act.
It included 31 moans relating to food which saw prisoners complaining about issues such as portion sizes, butter on sandwiches, boiled egg sandwiches, Christmas menus and Halal meat.
The biggest issue prisoners raised was about their accommodation, with 280 formal complaints lodged over "residential issues".
A total of 196 complaints were logged about healthcare problems and 187 over property.
Racial complaints have also been lodged as have issues with the tagging scheme.
March 2012 was one of the highest months for complaints with 172 recorded.
Ministry of Justice officials said today the complaints system has been set up to deal with prisoner concerns "quickly and effectively". Complaint forms are available on prison wings and prisoners can put them in a post box and they are collected every night.
