THE region's prisons are struggling to cope with a rising tide of unrest due to the spiralling number of inmates, a new report reveals.

The Prison Reform Trust said safety across the country was at risk and that tension in some cases had reached potentially explosive levels.

More than three quarters of prison Boards of Visitors (BoVs), whose job it is to monitor jail conditions, said their institution had been affected by overcrowding when surveyed for the report.

Most seriously, it drew a possible link between overcrowding and an increasing number of suicides citing a case at Holme House prison, near Stockton, Teesside.

The BoV for Holme House said some prisoners returning from court had been diverted to the jail in March this year because of "lock-out" at Durham Prison.

Andrew McPherson, 24, was due to be returned to Durham but was sent to Holme House instead. He hung himself in his cell.

Last night, a spokesman for Holme House would not comment on the reasons for Mr McPherson's death until an inquest had taken place - but admitted it was "far from ideal" to move prisoners at short notice because of overcrowding.

Of the 103 BoVs surveyed, 27 per cent said security or prisoners' safety had suffered due to overcrowding.

Problems highlighted in the region's jails include:

* Prisoners frustrated by delays for transfer to prisons elsewhere because of overcrowding, creating a disturbance at maximum security Full Sutton, near York, in a bid to be moved to the segregation unit believing this would speed their transfer.

* A "constant stream" of women being transferred to Askham Grange open women's prison, near York, described as totally unsuitable for open conditions.

* Up to 50 prisoners a week being admitted to Deerbolt Young Offenders Institution, near Barnard Castle, causing difficulties in terms of induc-tion, education and training.

* Uncertainty over overcrowding having a seriously detrimental effect on officers and staff morale at Kirklevington Prison, near Yarm.

Director of the Prison Reform Trust Juliet Lyon said: ''This unique report must act as a wake-up call to the Government to reduce prison numbers, promote community penalties and reserve prison for serious and violent offenders only.''

The prison population in England and Wales is at an all-time high of 71,757, compared with 46,000 in 1992.

Director general of the Prison Service Martin Narey denied jails were in crisis, but said that overcrowding posed a "serious challenge".