INQUIRIES were under way last night into two deaths in neighbouring prison establishments.

The incidents are not connected and police have confirmed that there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths of either inmate.

Both were found hanged in their cells, one in the women's section of Durham Prison and the other at Frankland Jail, at Brasside, on the outskirts of the city, on Wednesday.

Post-mortem examinations are expected to be carried out by pathologists today.

The body of 32-year-old Beverly Fowler was found in her locked cell at Durham Prison Women's Centre, formerly H-Wing, or better known as "She-Wing", at about 6pm.

She was said to have been alone in the locked cell when she was found during a routine check by staff.

Her death was confirmed on arrival at the University Hospital of North Durham, in the city.

Police said Miss Fowler, a Jamaican, was serving a sentence for importing drugs.

Several hours later the body of the other inmate was discovered, again during a routine check by staff at Frankland Jail.

The inmate, a 31-year-old man from Essex, was certified dead by a doctor at about 11pm.

The identity of the man, who was serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for attempted robbery, will not be revealed until relatives have been informed, police said.

But a force spokesman confirmed that in both cases ligatures, made from strips of bedding, were recovered from the cells.

The North Durham coroner has been informed and inquests will be opened in the near future.

Last night, a spokeswoman for the Home Office Prison Service said the deaths of four inmates - two men and two women - at Durham Prison in the past 12 months had been classed as "self-inflicted".

But there had only been one "self inflicted" prisoner death at Frankland, a top security men's establishment, in the same period.