Criminals are using dead rats to smuggle the zombie drug Spice and phones into jail because the prison black market for them is so lucrative.

Three dead rats stuffed with drugs, mobile phones, chargers and sim cards were found by officers at HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset after being thrown over the prison walls.

The Ministry of Justice believe the extraordinary operation - disclosed today - was orchestrated by criminal kingpins through their organised crime networks.

Drugs in jails can fetch ten times the street price and generate further profits through repayment of debts for loans to buy them. One prison board member claimed even a single cigarette could cost as much as £100 on the black market.

Criminals have previously used tennis balls and pigeons to smuggle contraband into jails but it is thought to be the first time rats have been used.

They were disembowelled and their innards replaced by five mobile phones and chargers, three sim cards, cigarette papers and a large quantity of drugs including Spice, cannabis and tobacco. They were then neatly stitched up before being thrown over the prison walls.