Hundreds of staff have been sacked or disciplined for passing contraband, including weapons and mobile phones, to inmates

Hundreds of prison officers have been sacked for smuggling drugs, weapons and mobile phones into jails, the Observer has learned.

The number of staff found taking contraband into prisons in England and Wales has risen by 57% in the past six years, according to ministry of justice (MoJ) figures obtained through a freedom of information request, with 341 either dismissed, excluded, convicted or cautioned by police. In 2017, there were 71 cases of staff smuggling compared with 45 in 2012.

Surging levels of staff corruption is the latest obstacle in a long line faced by the government in the escalating prisons crisis, amid record levels of violence, suicides and drug seizures, with campaigners blaming austerity and a reliance on imprisonment to tackle crime.

Ben Crewe, deputy director of Cambridge University’s Prisons Research Centre, said staff cuts and a larger proportion of inexperienced officers meant that “those in post are more vulnerable to corruption”.

Last week the Observer revealed that hundreds of crucial, experienced staff have left the prison service and despite a recent recruitment drive to bring in 2,500 more prison officers, the latest figures show that there are still 6,800 fewer operational staff – equivalent to a fifth of the workforce – than in 2010.

A report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons published in July found that Wandsworth prison in London, which is the most overcrowded in Britain, had stopped using CCTV cameras and x-ray body scanners on visitors to detect contraband due to “a lack of staff”.

Andy Cook, director of the Centre for Social Justice, said the figures were “deeply concerning” and called for the government to enforce body scanners at all prisons. He added: “Britain’s prisons are in crisis and ministers need to get a grip. Drugs are at the heart of this, fuelling violence, suicide and completely undermining the likelihood that prisoners will be able to turn their lives around.”

Drugs were found 13,119 times in prisons in England and Wales last year, more than 35 incidents per day on average. The number of finds has trebled since 2014, after years of relative stability, with some smugglers resorting to technologies such as drones to deliver goods. The value of the UK prison drug market is an estimated £100m, according to the Prison Officers Association.

Other banned items include alcohol, mobile phones, legal highs, cameras, sound recording devices and any type of weapon or ammunition.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, blamed the poor state of prisons and called for greater funding. “The market that makes smuggling in drugs and mobile phones so lucrative has been driven by a deterioration in prison conditions,” he said. “The best way to reduce the supply of drugs and mobile phones into prisons is to reduce the demand for them. This means ensuring that prisons are properly resourced.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A G4S drug search dog and officer patrol the perimeter of Birmingham Prison in Winson Green, which was taken over by the ministry of justice on 20 August. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said inmates should be allowed to do constructive work and activities to “take the edge off the misery of life inside”. He added: “Genuine incentives – such as the prospect of release to work or study on temporary licence – give a powerful reason to say no when drugs are on offer as well as preparing prisoners for successful permanent release.”

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Earlier this year a former prison officer was jailed after taking mobile phones, chargers and sim cards into HMP Forest Bank in Salford. In 2016, a guard was arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle drugs into the crisis-hit HMP Birmingham, the G4S-run institution which was seized back into state control last month. A damning inspection had found that prisoners used drink, drugs and violence with impunity.

A Prison Service spokesperson said the MoJ was considering the creation of a prison-specific offence for corruption, adding: “The overwhelming majority of our prison staff are hard-working and honest but we remain vigilant to the threat posed by corruption and wrongdoing of a very small number of our staff.”