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Inmates are forced to pay for visitors and give regular “protection money” to warders to stop themselves getting beaten up.

Prisoners who cannot pay face sickening torture ordeals because Moscow officials have turned a blind eye to how the country's penal centres are run.

During a parliamentary talk on Russian prisons Chris Bryant, MP for Rhondda, Wales, warned Three Lions' supporters “it might happen” to them.

"My fear is that quite often when drink gets involved sometimes emotions get very high and things happen,” he said.

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"I would be worried about the British fans ending up in Russian prisons, not because Putin intends this to happen. He wants this to be an advert for how great Russia is.

"Nonetheless, it might happen.”

Author Nikolay Shchur, who served six months for protesting about pollution caused by Russia's military, said the state ignored what happened in prisons which hold around 1,500 inmates.

"It allows the people working for the penal service to do whatever they like,” he said.

Prisoners were “beaten”, “tortured” and held in “very unfavourable conditions”.

"That does not mean that they are immediately tortured. First of all a prisoner is demanded to pay,” he said.

"People who refuse to pay are immediately subjected to torture and ways to extort money from them.

"There are some very cruel ways of torture used. Some of them are the same that were used in the middle ages.

(Image: GETTY)

"People are told they have to pay for things in prison. According to the law a prisoner is allowed a visitor but in prison you have to pay for that. If a parcel arrives for a prisoner the people guarding them demand payment.”

His wife Tatyana urged England fans to stay at home, adding: "Maybe it is not such a decent idea to go to a country where such awful things are happening just to go to a football match.”

England’s players will be given a 24/7 phone tracking app with built-in panic button linked to security guards to keep them safe in Russia.

The move follows attack threats from Islamic State terrorists.