Jail almost shut down over dodgy plumbing

Prison conditions slammed in report

- DAMON WILKINSON

DODGY plumbing at a prison in Rochdale nearly led to a ‘full shut down’, a report has revealed.

HMP Buckley Hall is said to be ‘well past its original life expectancy’ and earlier this year major problems with the mains water supply almost resulted in a ‘mass relocation’ of hundreds of inmates.

The report from the Independent Monitoring Board found showers are ‘frequently closed’, and even when working are said to be ‘too hot or too cold’. And there’s also been problems with the electrics, which at one point required a portable generator to be fitted ‘at great expense’.