A prison in England has become so dilapidated that a prisoner managed to remove an entire cell door from its crumbling walls, watchdogs have revealed.

       Winchester prison’s independent monitoring board (IMB) said that cell windows and bricks were so decrepit that inmates were able to use plastic cutlery to prise them loose.

       On one occasion, a prisoner managed to remove a whole cell door in the jail’s segregation unit. Bricks and windows were removed in other incidents, said the watchdogs, who warned that it could make it easier for prisoners to escape.

       Winchester, a 560-capacity Victorian jail, was the scene of a major riot in 2019 after which 150 prisoners had to be moved out.

       A report by the IMB warned: “There have been at least 10 incidents of prisoners removing bricks and parts of window frames from cells, as well as one case of a prisoner removing a cell door. It is unsuitable for people to live in such conditions and the inadequate state of the fabric provides extra risk of escape.”

       The category B men’s prison in Hampshire also has a rodent problem that pest control experts cannot control, according to the IMB.

       Officers have to work in a rat-infested control room and the problem is so bad that staff saw one rat chew through a plastic bread wrapper and eat the loaf inside.

       The IMB said that the 178-year-old building is unfit for purpose.

       “There are clear signs of dilapidation. This includes leaking roofs and ceilings, erratic heating and water systems, and degraded brickwork, which prisoners have been able to dig through using plastic cutlery,” said the watchdogs.

       The Telegraph first revealed the concerns five years ago when officials from the Prison Officers’ Association wrote to prison chiefs warning that three inmates had dug through their cell walls. They demanded that the wing be cleared to allow structural engineers to check the building’s fabric.

       In its latest report, the IMB said: “The building’s condition is deteriorating, with leaking roofs and ceilings, inconsistent heating and water systems, and damaged brickwork. Some workshops and cells have been non-functional for months as a result of this.”

       It added: “The control room remains infested with rats. Pest removers have attended but to no avail.”

       The state of the prison reflects the backlog of repairs, which the National Audit Office estimated in 2020 would require nearly ￡1 billion to clear.

       A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The new Government inherited a prison system in crisis, and we are taking swift action to address concerns raised.”