Birmingham prison disturbance: what we know so far

Riot police have now entered the prison as a disturbance involving hundreds of inmates continues.

Specialist squads from other parts of the country have been deployed to HMPBirmingham which has been on lock down all day since trouble broke out at 9am and spread across four wings.

Reinforcements in full riot gear, including helmets and shields are on site this evening.

West Midlands Police say keys giving access to residential prison areas weretaken from an officer and that inmates had since occupied some blocks andexercise facilities.

The Ministry of Justice said "significant resources" had been deployed to thescene, adding: "The situation is contained, the perimeter is secure and thereis no risk to the public."

G4S - which runs the prison - said earlier that they had handed overall operational responsibility for the response to the Prison Service.

It is understood 80 additional prison officers, including the Tornado Team,have been deployed to the incident on top of the jail's usual staffing levels.

Fires started to burn early in the evening and the sounds of men cheering, smashing, banging and firecrackers, could be heard from behind the high perimeter wall.