PRISON LABELLED A 'SOFT TOUCH' OVER DRUGS

A TROUBLED prison which houses hundreds of men and youths from Bolton
has been named second in a UK league of shame for drug use.

HMP Forest Bank, in Agecroft, is second to only London's Brixton
Prison in terms of drug use among inmates - with more than a quarter
of random drugs tests proving positive.

The figures were released by the Home Office earlier this month
following a question in the House of Commons.

It was revealed that 27.2 per cent of mandatory drug tests were failed
by prisoners at privately run Forest Bank during the six months until
November 2005, the last period of available figures.

The rate of positive tests puts the 1,064-inmate jail second behind
Brixton where 30.2 per cent of tests proved positive and almost three
times the national average of 10.7 per cent.

Bolton South-east MP Brian Iddon will now write to the Government's
prison watchdog to ask for a fresh inspection of Forest Bank - less
than a year after a damning report which said drugs and violence were
rife.

The Bolton News has also revealed in the past year how inmates are
passed drugs and that UKP85,000 worth of drugs had been found at the
jail.

Dr Iddon said: "I have spoken to an ex-inmate very recently who told
me that Forest Bank is regarded as a soft touch and an easy place to
spend a sentence.

"It seems they are running a lax regime and the term this man used to
describe Forest Bank to me was holiday camp.' "This inmate told me
that compared to Manchester, Forest Bank is an easy ride.

"I will be writing to the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, and
I think she should come and have another look."

Dr Iddon said a net had been put up on one side of the exercise yard
at Forest Bank to stop drug dealers firing packages of drugs over the
prison wall with crossbows and catapults. But he is calling for a cage
to be fitted on the roof to stop drugs getting in.

A spokesman for Kalyx, which runs the prison, said: "The searching
procedure has changed and the prison is working closely with the police.

"That is part of an action plan which has been in place since October,
2005."