PRISON inspectors visiting a North-East jail with a “very serious” drugs problem have discovered that around 300 inmates have developed an addiction during their time inside.

An unannounced inspection of Holme House Prison, in Stockton, has revealed that nearly 60 per cent of its 1,200 adult prisoners claimed it was easy to get hold of drugs with Spice posing a particular problem.

Serious concerns about the prison “in crisis” were raised by Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham after a haul of nearly six kilos of Spice, worth £200,000, was found inside the male-only jail.

The HM Chief Inspector of Prisons has today published a report into its findings during two unannounced visits made to Holme House in July.

Inspectors last visited the facility in late 2013 and found “a significant deterioration in outcomes across most of our assessments”.

Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: “The prison was not as safe as it had been and at the heart of our concerns was a very serious problem with drugs.

“The threat to the well-being of individuals was manifest and rarely have we seen so many serious and repeated incidents of prisoners under the influence of clearly harmful substances.

“Stopping drugs from entering the prison was the prison’s main priority in our view.”

However, inspectors found that despite high caseloads, support for drug and alcohol-addicted prisons was “very good”.

The report noted that despite violence rising in Holme House since 2013, work had been carried out to reduce it.

However, inspectors were concerned that there had been six inmate suicides in less than four years and that not all of the recommendations made following Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s investigations had been implemented effectively.

Mr Clarke added: “Holme House is an ambitious and aspirational prison with plans to deliver a significant programme of change.

“Our commentary in no way seeks to undermine those ambitions, but there was a significant gap between aspiration and the day-to-day reality.

“This inspection was disappointing and demonstrated a need for greater attention to the basic requirements of safety, decency and prisoner rehabilitation.”