WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange has been moved to the hospital wing of a prison after he lost dangerous amounts of weight behind bars.

Australian Assange – serving 11 months for breaching bail as he hid in the Ecuador embassy – was taken ill at tough Belmarsh jail, south-east London.

3 Julian Assange continues to fight against extradition to the United States over allegations he conspired to break into a classified Pentagon computer Credit: PA:Press Association

'NEAR TO COLLAPSE'

And a prison source said: “Assange is unwell generally but has recently been struggling to eat which has made it worse.

“He looked near to collapse, gaunt and frail so they have got him in as a precaution.

“He will be looked after in the healthcare wing and given supplements and plenty of liquid if he is struggling with food.

“Some staff feared he was on hunger strike although that is not the case.

“Some of his health problems seem to stem from being cooped up in the embassy for so long.

'STATE OF MIND NOT GREAT'

“And his state of mind is not great, either.”

The hospital move comes after footage of Assange, 47 – looking pale and emaciated – was leaked by a con said to be a supporter.

It showed him wearing a blue prison-issue sweater and jeans in an untidy single cell. A fellow inmate points out that half-eaten food is lying around.

Assange is trying to block extradition to the United States on charges of computer hacking and disclosing classified documents.

He failed in a 2012 appeal against extradition to Sweden for questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations.

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Assange was forced to miss a court session at the end of May as he was unwell - but he recovered before falling ill again.

He was dramatically arrested in London in April after cops dragged him out of the Ecuadorean embassy where he was holed up. He had lived there for seven years to avoid capture.

3 A healthier looking Julian Assange pictured in 2012 Credit: Getty Images - Getty

3 Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in London in 2011 Credit: Reuters

Phone footage shows Wikileaks founder Julian Assange behind bars at Belmarsh prison