The boss of Salford’s Forest Bank jail has vowed to crack down on the smuggling of phones after a shocking racist video was posted by inmates online.

The latest video obtained by the M.EN, which is too offensive to publish, shows prisoners mocking Islam and performing shockingly crude acts.

The minute-long clip was filmed at the Agecroft prison on an illegal smartphone before being shared via WhatsApp.

It shows three masked inmates address the camera, mocking the Muslim faith before then going on to perform a crude act another prisoner, who is wearing an approximation of Islamic dress.

One former prisoner who saw the footage told the M.E.N: “It’s disgusting.”

The M.E.N have now handed the footage to officials at the Category B men’s prison which is now investigating and has vowed to take action.

Watch: Shocking video shows prisoners high on 'spice' at Forest Bank

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Matt Spencer, director of HMP Forest Bank, tod the M.E.N: “Prisons are a challenging environment to manage and the safety of staff, prisoners and visitors remains a top priority.

“The use of mobile phones is a challenge across the whole prison estate and staff at HMP Forest Bank work very hard to successfully prevent phones getting into the prison. We continue to invest in resources and in the coming weeks we will be introducing new technology to help combat this problem.”

The jail, which houses 1,500 inmates, is one of a handful of prisons which is run privately. It is operated by Sodexo on behalf of the MoJ.

New body scanners are due be installed at the privately-run prison within the next few weeks.

The move comes after the Manchester Evening News revealed the use of smuggled smartphones and a drug known as ‘spice’ is widespread within the facility.

It is a criminal offence to bring a mobile phone into prison, or transmit sounds or images from within a prison using a mobile phone. Those convicted can be a jailed for a maximum of two years.

Last month the M.E.N. uncovered and published a series of videos taken inside Forest Bank which appear to show drug-fuelled behaviour and violent bullying and humiliation of inmates.

Glyn Travis, assistant general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: “We are shocked but not surprised by the content of these videos. The smuggling of phones into prison has become a real issue. The fact they are getting in demonstrates prisons are not or safe. And the victims of their crimes see they have unfettered access to the internet.”

He expressed doubt about Government plans to recruit 2,100 new prison officers in England and Wales, adding: “Over-stretched and demoralised prison staff are drowning under the volume of work and we only see that getting worse.”