Prison roof set alight by 'inmate who stripped off & torched his clothes'

A prison roof has been set alight by an inmate who stripped off and torched his clothes.

Sixty-four prisoners were evacuated while firefighters tackled the blaze at HMP Guys Marsh, near Shaftesbury, in Dorset, in the early hours of Saturday.

It is believed the inmate scaled the roof wearing multiple sets of clothes before setting light to them and triggering the "large fire" at around 8pm on Friday.

The inmate was drunken and protesting against changes to the prison regime, according to the BBC.

The inmates were taken to a secure area in the prison while the fire was brought under control and the scale of the damage ascertained.

The prisoner was being treated by paramedics as a precautionary measure and was not immediately arrested.

During the prison's last inspection, investigators found it was in "crisis" and managers and staff had "all but lost control".

The unannounced inspection, triggered by "concerning intelligence", found gangs "operated openly" in the facility, which was overcrowded with 543 male inmates in November 2014.

Violence, largely driven by the drug Spice and illicitly brewed alcohol, was"very high" and inmates lived in fear, the HM Inspectorate of Prisons wrote in the 2015 report.

In November, images of inmates eating steaks and takeaways captured on smuggled mobile phones at the prison were condemned as "totally unacceptable" by Downing Street.

The Category C facility holds prisoners serving life sentences as well as those undergoing drug addiction treatment, according to the Ministry of Justice website.

A Prison Service spokesman added: "There is no danger to the public and staff are working to bring the incident to a safe conclusion as quickly as possible."