No confidence vote in Featherstone Prison management

But the Prison Service has insisted Featherstone Prison near Wolverhampton is safe and that more officers have already been recruited to address staffing levels.

Yet it has also emerged that 10 prison officers are to be moved from other sites across the country to neighbouring Brinsford Young Offenders Institution in the run up to Christmas.

The move was criticised by the Howard League for Penal Reform which said it painted the picture of a 'prison system in disarray'.

However ministers have said there is nothing unusual in the move.

At Featherstone, governor Deborah Butler is due to move to Stafford Prison in the new year after five years in the post.

But the Prison Service has stressed this is nothing to do with the vote of no confidence called amid concerns over staffing levels.

Earlier this year sources claimed the prison was 'flooded' with the synthetic cannabis Black Mamba and that officers had been attacked.

They had claimed violent acts were handled 'weakly' by management, that an officer was punched to the ground and kicked and that the prisoner responsible received a 28-day sentence for common assault but this was served alongside his existing term.

A source at the prison told the Express & Star: "The management lost a vote of no confidence by 87 per cent. Staff have been concerned for their safety."

Prison Service spokesman Shaun Jepson said: "Independent prison inspectors this year described HMP Featherstone as a 'very effective' establishment, praising the relationships between staff and prisoners. Performance at the prison has remained consistently high and it continues to build on this good work.

"Featherstone has recently been allocated a number of new officers and it is expected to be almost fully staffed early next year. The Governor provided her full support to this recruitment drive and this has already had a positive impact on morale among uniformed staff in the prison."

Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, said: "I hope that prison officers and staff at Featherstone are given the support they need to create a world class service."

Ministers said the Howard League was 'twisting the facts' about officers being moved in a bid to paint a picture of a prison system in disarray when 'detached duty' was a long-held practice.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "This provides evidence for a system under extreme stress. Taxpayers' money is being squandered on shoring up a failing system.

"We know that each week a prison officer works in another prison can cost the taxpayer up to an additional £500, which adds up to hundreds of thousands over the months the emergency use of 'detached duty' has been operating.

"Prisons holding children are being asked to release staff and drive them up and down motorways to help out at adult jails facing an emergency over the holidays.

"Politicians must accept responsibility for the chaos their policies are inflicting on the prison service, on staff and on the public."

Justice minister Andrew Selous said: "This is another example of the Howard League twisting the facts to try and paint a picture of disarray in the prison system.

"Sending prison officers on detached duty is a sensible and proportionate way of managing temporary staffing shortfalls and is something the Service has used for over 20 years.

"Prison staff have done a fantastic job maintaining safe and decent prison regimes during a period of significant change and I would like to thank them all for their dedication."