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| Riot staff tackle Mount Prison disturbance | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Riot-trained prison staff have been sent to a jail in Hertfordshire after violence broke out at about 14:00 BST. | |
| Sources have told the BBC's home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw that one wing of Mount Prison, in Bovingdon village near Hemel Hempstead, and half of another wing had been "lost". | |
| A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "The prison is completely secure and there is no risk to the public." | A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "The prison is completely secure and there is no risk to the public." |
| The Mount opened in 1987 and is classed as a category C male prison. | The Mount opened in 1987 and is classed as a category C male prison. |
| The Prison Reform Trust calls this type of institution one where "prison staff think [inmates] will not escape," while acknowledging they "cannot be trusted in an open prison". | The Prison Reform Trust calls this type of institution one where "prison staff think [inmates] will not escape," while acknowledging they "cannot be trusted in an open prison". |
| Prison affairs academic and blogger Alex Cavendish had tweeted on Saturday that MHP The Mount was in "total lockdown" for the third weekend because of staff shortages. | |
| Cavendish said on Monday that the facility has been running on a "restricted regime" in recent weeks and is 47 staff short. | |
| The Mount is built on a former RAF station site and has more than 1,000 prisoners, according to the Ministry of Justice. | |
| It is described as a "hybrid training and resettlement prison" for prisoners in the final six months of their sentences. | It is described as a "hybrid training and resettlement prison" for prisoners in the final six months of their sentences. |
| A 2015 inspection of the prison found The Mount was "reasonably safe and felt calm and well ordered", but chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick added that there was "room for improvement". | A 2015 inspection of the prison found The Mount was "reasonably safe and felt calm and well ordered", but chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick added that there was "room for improvement". |
| It is understood a command suite to co-ordinate emergency action was set up at 14:00 BST. | It is understood a command suite to co-ordinate emergency action was set up at 14:00 BST. |