'Squalid' Wandsworth prison is forced to order 1,500 coats, 1,000 blankets and instant noodles for inmates after heating failed

Temperatures inside the 170-year-old Victorian jail in south-west London can drop to 12C. The Independent Monitoring Board says the heating and hot water breakdown last November was so severe it was logged as a 'loss of service'. The board warns the failures will keep returning unless the systems are replaced rather than 'patched up in a piecemeal manner'. Around a third of staff are absent on a typical day.

Inspectors branded conditions 'unsafe, overcrowded, unsanitary' and 'inhumane'.

HMP Wandsworth crams in 60% to 80% more inmates than it was built for.

Prisoners freed early this month reportedly described life inside as 'awful', with 'not enough space'.