The Prison Service is to launch an investigation after a "riot" broke out at HMP Bedford which reportedly saw up to 200 inmates go on the rampage.

Officers and ambulance crews were called to the category B prison in Bedford town centre at around 5pm on Sunday.

But after an operation that lasted more than six hours, the situation was brought under control.

A Prison Service spokesman said: "Specially trained prison officers and staff from the emergency services have successfully resolved an incident involving a number of prisoners at HMP Bedford.

"An investigation into this incident will take place. We are absolutely clear that prisoners who behave in this way will be punished and could spend significantly longer behind bars."


Mobile phone footage from inside a prison - but which cannot be verified - was posted on social media.

Image: Up to 200 inmates were reportedly involved. Pic: @crake101

Videos showed chaotic scenes with scores of prisoners out of their cells and in the prison's gangways, shouting and bellowing.

One video showed what appeared to be paper and furniture strewn across an atrium floor.

There were also reports of loud bangs or explosions coming from inside the prison.

There were no injuries to prison staff but two inmates were treated for injuries that were not thought to be serious.

Tyler Johnston, 21, who said he spent four months inside the jail on drugs charges, said prisoners took batons, raided safes containing phones and drugs, and locked other inmates inside cells.

Speaking outside the prison, he said: "The prisoners were running it last night, not the screws.

"Bedford Prison is falling apart, there's cockroaches everywhere, the floor's peeling off... it's an absolute state. When you put people under that much strain they're going to bite."

On Monday, a prison official said batches of inmates would be transferred from the jail "throughout the day".

The first inmates were taken away from the prison on Sunday night after the disturbances were brought under control, the official added.

Image: A police vehicle is seen outside HMP Bedford during the unrest. Pic: @crake101

Private contractor trucks were stationed outside the compound on Monday, with police vehicles including a dog unit nearby.

Police vans marked as carrying chemicals including "irritants", "flammable liquid" and "compressed gas" were also outside the walls of the compound.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association (POA), said some guards were forced to retreat to a "safe place" while large numbers of prisoners ran amok.

The disorder comes after the head of the POA Mike Rolfe last week warned British jails had been engulfed by a "bloodbath".

Mr Gillan said: "The POA has been warning about this situation of violence in our prisons - it would appear it's coming to fruition.

"I just hope there's no prisoners or indeed prison officers injured in the violence."

Richard Fuller, MP for Bedford and Kempston, will put an "urgent question" to Justice Secretary Liz Truss in Parliament on Monday, according to local media.

HMP Bedford, which has been on its current site since 1801, currently holds around 500 inmates, according to a HM Inspectorate of Prisons report in September.