Mark Bridger, the murderer of five-year-old April Jones, has been attacked in jail.

Bridger was slashed across the face with a makeshift blade on Sunday by an inmate at HMP Wakefield, where he is serving a life sentence.

He was taken to a local hospital where he was given stitches, The Sun reported.

A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "A prisoner from HMP Wakefield was taken to hospital on 7 July. The incident is being investigated by the police."

Bridger kidnapped April before sexually abusing her, murdering her and then disposing of her body last October.

He was given a whole life sentence in May by trial judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams after a jury took four hours to find him guilty following a month-long trial.

April had been playing with friends close to her home on the Bryn Y Gog estate in Machynlleth, mid-Wales when Bridger enticed her into his car.

Following his arrest, officers found numerous indecent images on his computer.

Bridger - a former slaughterhouse worker - has never revealed what he did with April's body, although skull fragments were found in his fireplace.

Police believe he dismembered the five-year-old's body before dumping the body parts at various locations in the hills, rivers and forests surrounding his home in Cienws, Mid-Wales, after traces of her blood were found all over his rented cottage.

He was sent to Wakefield, the largest maximum security jail in the UK, which houses a number of child killers including Roy Whiting, Levi Belfield and Mick Philpott.

Bridger had previously been kept away from other prisoners for his own safety, as attacks on child killers are not uncommon in Britain's jails.

Despite tight security surrounding high-profile inmates - including segregation for paedophiles and child killers - attacks with makeshift blades and other improvised weapons do take place.

Ian Huntley, the killer of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, was attacked at Wakefield when a fellow prisoner, murderer Mark Hobson, threw a bucket of boiling water over him in September 2005.

Huntley was moved to HMP Frankland in January 2008, where his throat was slashed by another inmate in March 2010.