Prison cells crisis blamed on Tories as boy's killer is released after 5 months

THE number of spare prison places in male jails fell to just 100, it emerged yesterday the closest the UK has ever been to running out of cells.

- By Michael Knowles

It means the prison service is perilously close to a "one in, one out" system after the overcrowding crisis intensified over the long weekend.

And the Ministry of Justice may have to trigger Operation Brinker, which has never been done before, to keep suspects in police cells for longer. Prisons would then provide a set number of cells each day and suspects would be driven around the country to find spaces.

But police fear if it is activated it could limit their ability to make arrests - as their cells will be full of people who should be in jail.

In his speech yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer admitted he did not know if the recent riots would overwhelm the system.