MORE and more prisoners are being crammed into an already overcrowded North-East jail every year.

The latest figures, from January, show that Durham Prison houses almost 400 more people than it was built to accommodate.

As of January, there were 976 men in the jail, but it was designed for only 591.

Durham Prison's population has been growing every year. In January, it was 165 per cent full.

However, The Home Office prefers to quote its overcrowding based on operational or "safe" capacity.

Exceeding this operational capacity is considered dangerous, and governors are told not to do so.

But now it has emerged that this "safe" level has been increased every year.

In February 2004, the Home Office said Durham could house 746 prisoners safely.

In January, that had increased to 981 -the most recent figures showing its population was only five short of the safe limit.

Anita Dockley, assistant director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, which campaigns for reforms to the prison system, said overcrowding was worst at prisons such as Durham, which took prisoners from courts, and which were referred to as local prisons.

She said: "Every year, two-thirds of the people who kill themselves in prison are people in local prisons. Often, they are people in the most uncertain conditions. They may be people who are new to the prison system and they are very vulnerable. We are quite concerned about this."

In the decade to March 2004, 23 people committed suicide at Durham Prison. However, that has improved in recent years.

Yesterday, Durham Prison would not comment, but referred The Northern Echo to the Home Office for a statement.

A Home Office spokewoman said the prison population problem was being addressed.

She said: "There are population pressures across the board, and the Home Office has made a commitment to create 8,000 new prison places.

"The process of creating them is already under way."

She said two prisons were being built in Liverpool and another on the site of Belmarsh in East London. Nationally, the prison population stands at 80,236, and has grown by five per cent in the past year.

Prison Service director-general Phil Wheatley said: "Each prison has been assessed to ensure that the level of overcrowding in that prison does not exceed the level at which we can hold prisoners in a decent and humane fashion."

A quarter of prisoners are living in overcrowded conditions and about 40 per cent can expect to share a cell.

Durham and Northallerton Prisons are among the most overcrowded in England.