'Tornado' riot squad storms HMP Hewell after unrest

A 'tornado' riot squad was drafted in to deal with unrest at a Worcestershire prison on Saturday night.

A stream of unmarked vans and minibuses could be seen arriving at HMP Hewell, home to about 1,000 prisoners, from 7.30pm.

Shouting and swearing could be heard over the sounds of banging and barking dogs, as elite teams trained to respond to riots piled out from the vehicles with backpacks of equipment.

Shots were heard from the affected wing until around midnight and the prison is now fully under the control of authorities.

A small number of prisoners reportedly attempted to damage the wing of the prison after refusing to follow the orders of prison officers in charge.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "An incident involving a small number of prisoners took place on Saturday 22 July.

"We do not tolerate violence in our prisons. Where incidents like this occur, we will always work closely with the police to push for the strongest possible punishment."

It comes days after the prisons watchdog warned that inmates in many jails are being kept in "appalling" conditions with not enough staff to maintain order.

The Prison Officers' Association also recently warned that levels of violence in prisons were "absolutely horrendous".

In an inspection report published in January, HMP Hewell was described as facing "many challenges".

Chief inspector of prisons Peter Clarke said the jail had levels of violence that were "far too high" and faced serious issues with "safety and respect".

Inspectors also found increased levels of self-harm and reported that a quarter of prisoners "felt unsafe" in the jail.

A Sky News Freedom of Information request earlier this month found tornado officers were being called to deal with an increasing number of serious incidents - 16 in 2016 compared with just three in 2011.