THE head of the Prison Service in the North-East has promised 'a complete overhaul' of the running of Durham Prison in the wake of figures that show it has one of the worst suicide rates in the country.

Recently-appointed regional manager Niall Clifford admitted that significant improvements were needed at the prison.

A report released last month by the Howard League For Penal Reform revealed that 23 prisoners had taken their own life at Durham Prison in the decade to March 2004 - the third highest number in the country behind Manchester and Leeds. Fourteen of those deaths occurred in the final three years of the period.

Twice in the last six months, County Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle has written to the Prison Service to highlight shortcomings in the handling of vulnerable prisoners at Durham following inquests into suicides dating back more than two years.

Mr Clifford, a former governor of Durham Prison from 1996 to 1999, said a Performance Improvement Process was under way at the jail, which is currently home to 685 inmates.

The review, he said, was designed to overhaul every aspect of the prison and deliver a significant improvements, reviewing every aspect of the job from what the prisoners' experience is to how we are operating the prison.

"I have assessed Durham Jail as needing to significantly improve its performance across the board."

In April, Sandy McEwan, the former head of the Prison Service's national juvenile unit, was appointed the new governor at Durham.

Mr McEwan takes over from former governor Mike Newell, who took early retirement in March.

Mr Clifford, 53, said: "What we are trying to do is get the prison to a state of stability which would discourage events of suicide and self-harm.

"There is no immediate linkage between how a jail is run and the number of incidents of suicide and self harm, but if prisoners aren't being treated decently and fairly then we are increasing the risk. We need to make sure everything we do is fair and decent. That is the aim of the improvement process, to get the jail back to doing what it should be doing."

In addition to improving management systems in the prison, which was re-graded last year to a category B prison, Mr Clifford said the review would look at issues such as improving prisoners' access to telephones and showers and making greater use of prisoners as a workforce.

He added that the handful of women prisoners still in the jail, following last year's closure of the Women's Unit, would be moved out by September.

Consultations are now taking place with the prison's staff over the proposed re-opening of two wings, which would increase the prison's population by around 200.