Security firm says problem on one of the wings at privatised HMP Oakwood, near Wolverhampton, has been contained

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The private security company G4S has confirmed a disturbance erupted at HMP Oakwood, Britain's largest prison, over Sunday night.

Staff at the privately managed prison, which was the scene of rooftop protests in 2012, were supported by local police in tackling the incident at HMP Oakwood in Featherstone, near Wolverhampton, which provides places for more than 1,500 Category C male prisoners.

Sky News reported that serious disorder had broken out in one of the wings, possibly involving weapons, and that specialist riot police had been called to help restore order. G4S would not give any details of the nature of the incident.

A spokesperson for G4S said the incident started early on Sunday evening on one wing but was contained under "standard procedures" at the £180m prison and was over at 2am on Monday.

"Police and internal investigations will now take place. It would be inappropriate to comment further until these have been completed."

Staffordshire police said the force was offering support and assistance to G4S.

The prison was the focus of a highly critical report last year that cited prisoners who claimed it was easier to get hold of illicit drugs than a bar of soap.

The chief inspector of prisons confirmed that drug use at the "supersized" jail, which opened in April 2012, was more than twice the rate of similar jails and that inmates found it difficult to get hold of clean prison clothing, basic toiletries and cleaning materials.

The jail has also taken on a political significance, with the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, praising it as a "first class facility" and the Labour party threatening to renationalise it and other prisons if managers failed to make improvements.

A spokesman for Staffordshire police said the force was aware of the incident at the prison and was offering support and assistance to G4S.

However, a popular Facebook page established to campaign for safer conditions for prison officers claimed that reports indicated "an entire wing has been lost to prisoners control".

In Oakwood's first official inspection report, published last October by Nick Hardwick, the chief inspector of prisons, it was found that the level of drug use was matched by high levels of assaults, victimisation and bullying.

The use of force to restrain inmates was twice as high as at similar jails, with 241 incidents in the first six months of this year.

Prisoners subsequently staged a number of rooftop protests, including one last November in which six inmates were involved.

The shadow justice secretary, Sadiq Khan, said last week that Labour would take control of privately run prisons if their managers failed to meet a six-month "buck up" deadline and accused Grayling of a "catastrophic misjudgment" after he praised Oakwood as his favourite prison.