Thousands of prison staff have been subject to disciplinary action in the past five years, including for relationships with inmates, assaulting prisoners and racism.

A total of 2,666 prison staff in England and Wales were subject to disciplinary action between mid-2013 and mid-2018, according to data released under a Freedom of Information request submitted by The Guardian.

The most common reason for disciplinary action was breach of security, which can include bringing drugs and mobile phones into prisons, with 960 workers subject to this charge.

The Ministry of Justice disclosed in the FOI release that 204 staff were disciplined for assault or unnecessary use of force against prisoners, while 64 prison offers had inappropriate relationships with a prisoner.

A further 19 prison staff were disciplined for racial harassment and 28 prison officers for trafficking.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “The vast majority of prison officers and other staff carry out their duties to the high standards the public rightly expect, but the small minority who fall short of those standards are held to account.

“Allegations of inappropriate behaviour, though rare, are taken extremely seriously and are immediately investigated. We do not hesitate to take action where there is evidence of misconduct.”