Three inmates caused mayhem when they smashed up a room in a bid to be moved to another prison.

The three flew into a rage after being relocated to HMP Acklington in Northumberland from another prison.

They barricaded themselves into a recreation area and completely trashed the room during a three-and-a-half hour stand-off with officers.

They ripped radiators from walls, pulled lights from the ceiling and smashed windows as guards and other inmates desperately tried to flee the scene.

The incident started just before 7pm on Monday, after the three young men arrived at the prison near Morpeth. Prison bosses mobilised the jail's specialist riot squad.

Officers broke up their demonstration and restrained the three at about 10.45pm after they had been holed up for more than three hours. They were put in segregation and are awaiting interview by police.

Prison staff last night said the cost of the damage would run into thousands and the room would take up to two weeks to repair.

Governor Mike Kirby said there was no apparent logic behind the protest and the rest of the prisoners had distanced themselves from the rioters.

He said: "We had a disturbance involving three prisoners that caused some damage in the association room in D wing.

"Two of them are from outside the area and aren't particularly keen on being at Acklington.

"Other than that I don't think there's any logic to why it happened. The damage went on for an hour or so while we organised controlled restriction teams.

It's broken windows, damage to light fittings, radiators pulled off the wall and quite a bit of other damage.

"We've been sitting down with the works people today. We're talking thousands worth of damage and we think it will take just over a week to get it back open.

"The rest of the prisoners didn't want to know about it, they all got themselves out of the way. That's testament to the good staff-inmate relationship here. I think staff reacted in a very calm and professional way and there were no injuries to anybody."

A police spokesman last night said officers at Morpeth CID were waiting for clearance to interview the inmates.

He said: "We've been up there for most of the day. The whole area has been pretty badly trashed.

"The three prisoners will be arrested and interviewed, but there are certain procedures to go through with the prison first."

The prison can hold up to 881 inmates and in May this year was awarded Performance Level 3 by the Prisons Ombudsman, meaning it was: "Meeting the majority of targets, experiencing no significant problems in doing so, and delivering a reasonable and decent regime."

A report from the Prison Reform Trust in August said Acklington had a higher than average drug use, with 16pc of inmates testing positively, compared with the Prison Service target of 10pc.

Earlier this year, the trust praised the way inmates help in the running of the jail.

A Home Office spokesman last night said: "Part of a wing was damaged extensively. The incident started at 6.45pm and concluded at 10.15pm. The prisoners involved are now in segregation. They were protesting about being at the prison. The rest of the prison remained calm and the incident was localised to one wing.

"Initial work is expected to take until the end of the week. It is expected to be completely repaired within two weeks."