Disturbance at prison was 'violent hostage threat'

Specialist officers were deployed to a prison after one inmate threatened to take another hostage, the BBC understands.

Officers from the National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) - which is equipped to respond to serious incidents in jails - were sent to reports of a disturbance at Lowdham Grange prison on Tuesday.

The Prison Officers' Association (POA) said it was the "latest in a long line of violent incidents in our prisons" and was of such a nature that it demanded a response from the NTRG.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said no prisoners or staff were injured at the jail in Nottinghamshire.

Lowdham Grange, a category B prison, operated privately until December 2023, when the government took over before making the move permanent in the summer of 2024.

The POA has demanded an urgent meeting with Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to discuss how those on the front line are protected, said Geoff Willetts, from the POA national executive committee.

He added: "There seems to be an increasing need for this group [NTRG] to be deployed due to frequent callouts to address rising prison violence and an ever increasing prison population, which brings its own demands and pressures on recruitment, retention and the training of staff, all of which is paramount to delivering a safe regime.

"All prison officers need to be issued with effective PPE [personal protective equipment], including stab vests, we need to end overcrowding and understaffing, and we need the support of management to enforce a prison regime that is safe for all who work in it and the prisoners we look after."

Prisons minister Lord James Timpson added: "Prison staff rapidly resolved this incident, and I would like to pay tribute to them for doing so.

"But this is another sign of the problems we are facing in our prisons, with prisons that are overcrowded and violent.

"This government is gripping the crisis we inherited.

"We are building 14,000 new prison places and we will reform sentencing. We will ensure our prisons encourage offenders to turn their backs on crime - and we will make them safer for our hardworking staff."

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