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A former prisoner who was one of Gordon Ramsay’s “bad boys” in his cooking show inside a jail has been given a job at a top London restaurant.

Andrew Insley is now a commis chef at Roast in Borough Market after owner Iqbal Wahhab spotted him on the series Gordon Behind Bars.

Ramsay admitted finding it a struggle to galvanise and organise convicts at Brixton Prison for the series, which follows his attempts to set up an in-house bakery where the men can get training and catering qualifications.

The chef complained about the prisoners’ cushy lives and lack of drive and had heated exchanges with both inmates and jail officers, before finally being impressed by the hard work and achievements of his protégés.

Ex-prisoners Paul Wyatt and Tesfa Jones were offered the chance to work at Ramsay’s restaurants at the Savoy and Mr Wahhab took on Insley who participated in the Bad Boys Bakery project. Another former inmate, Anthony Kelly, is now working for the St Giles Trust which works with ex-offenders to help rehabilitate them.

Mr Wahhab sells the bakery’s lemon curd treacle tarts at his Mooli’s restaurant in Soho. He now hopes to employ more ex-offenders from the Ramsay project and other jails, and has called on the prison service to do more to help ex-inmates into employment.

Mr Wahhab said: “The real effort needs to come from the prison service. It should be promoting catering not just as an activity that passes the time for prisoners but something that can be a key to the future.”

Mr Wahhab was among the guests at a temporary restaurant set up by Ramsay in Brixton Prison and was impressed with Inlsey’s attention to detail. When he was due for release, the prison contacted Mr Wahhab and suggested he give the young man a work placement.

The restaurateur said: “He won the job on his merits. I gave him the opportunity but he has proved himself to be a hard worker.”

A spokesman for Channel 4 said: “We are delighted that Gordon’s programme has had such a positive impact on the lives of some of the prisoners featured.”