Yarl's Wood Guard Suspended After Secret Film

A member of staff at Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre has been suspended after an undercover TV investigation filmed guards calling inmates "animals" and "bitches".

The Channel 4 programme also showed officers at the privately-run facility threatening violence against detainees.

In response, Serco, which operates the centre in Befordshire, has ordered an independent review headed by Kate Lampard, who led the major inquiry into abuse by Jimmy Savile at NHS hospitals across the country.

The Home Office has also told the company to speed up the introduction of body cameras for staff at the detention centre which has nearly 400 detainees.

The TV investigation revealed disturbing staff attitudes towards the inmates.

One guard in the programme says: "Headbutt the bitch. I'd beat her up."

A guard is also caught on film saying: "They're animals. They're beasties. They're all animals. Caged animals. Take a stick with you and beat them up. Right?"

A Serco spokesman said: "We recognise that the public needs to be confident that Yarl's Wood is undertaking its difficult role with professionalism, care and humanity.

"This is why we have asked the highly respected former barrister, Kate Lampard CBE, to conduct an independent review of our work at Yarl's Wood."

The revelations come as a panel of MPs and peers called for a a 28-day limit on immigration detention.

The UK is the only country in the European Union not to have a cap, according to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Refugees and the APPG on Migration.

Tory MP David Burrowes, who sat on the inquiry panel, said: "The lack of a time limit is resulting in people being locked up for months and, in some cases, several years purely for administrative reasons.

"While there is a need to properly control our borders, people who arrive by fair means or foul must also be treated with dignity and respect throughout the immigration process."