PRISONERS in the North-East are being kept in unsuitable temporary cells which are difficult to secure, a watchdog has revealed.

The National Audit Office published its findings on accommodation for the soaring prison population.

The report revealed that 29 modular temporary units (MTUs) had been installed in 22 prisons, including Low Newton, near Durham, and Kirklevington, at Yarm, near Stockton.

As of last Friday, the total prison population in England and Wales was 77,774, with between 12,000 and 13,000 prisoners on remand.

The current prison population means that 141 out of every 100,000 people in England and Wales are in custody, compared with 98 in Germany, and 93 in France.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the public accounts committee, said: "The prisons of England and Wales are close to bursting point and further substantial rises in the prisoner population are a strong possibility."

He added: "At present, too many prisoners are being locked up in unsuitable and overcrowded cells, and heightened pressure on staff time will surely exacerbate tension in prisons.''

The report is also damning of the MTUs, which are made of wood and steel frames.

The findings say the MTUs have been blighted by faults, such as leaking roofs, windows and showers. They are also difficult to secure.

The report also claims that two 600-space jails have been given outline planning permission - but completion of the construction could take up to eight years.

But a Home Office spokesman told The Northern Echo yesterday that, contrary to the report, there was available accommodation in prisons.

He said: "We currently have more spaces than we have prisoners and we are certainly not overfilling."

However, he conceded that, prisoners were sometimes having to be held temporarily in police cells until suitable prison accommodation was found.

He added that, while MTUs had been introduced in 2002 to overcome some problems at the time, "they are now being replaced with ready-to-use units which are more suitable, cheaper and easily constructed on site".

He said that the provision of new prison accommodation was "moving on quicker than anticipated" and that by 2007, there would be another 3,000 places available.