DORSET'S Guys Marsh Prison remains 'of concern' to Government inspectors due to a rise in assaults.

A new report from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) says the male Category C prison near Shaftesbury was given the rating 'performance is of concern' for 2017-18, a slight improvement on the previous year, when it was 'of serious concern'.

The report showed that the rate of violent attacks in the prison had decreased since 2016-17, but this bucked the longer-term trend.

There were 155 prisoner-on-prisoner attacks recorded in Guys Marsh throughout 2017, around triple the number recorded in 2012. There were also 60 assaults on staff recorded in 2017, compared with 14 five years before.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "It is shameful that so many prisons are performing so poorly, with violence and self-injury again rising to new highs.

"Given we now know that prisons have been under-reporting assaults and self-injury incidents, the fear must be that some are faring even worse than the ratings indicate.

"On the horizon, however, we should see improvements in the next few years if the number of people in prison keeps falling.

"Further steps to reduce the prison population would save lives, protect staff and prevent more people being swept into deeper currents of crime, violence and despair."

Three years ago HM Inspectorate of Prisons released a damning report on the facility, having found that drug dealing, gang rivalry, overcrowding and staff shortages had resulted in “very high” levels of violence.

Inmates were described as being “frightened” by abuse and extortion connected with the trade of ‘legal’ drugs and bootleg alcohol.

Then, chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick said: “The failures of the prison at the time of the inspection posed unacceptable risks to the public, staff and prisoners and this cannot be allowed to continue."

Despite the rate of cases of self-harm in Guys Marsh decreasing in the year to 2017-18, this follows years in which it has apparently become much more common.

The MoJ has warned that issues with data reporting mean the extent of assault and self-harm in institutions may not historically have been fully recorded.

Across England and Wales, 14 of the 118 prisons assessed were considered to be 'exceptional'. At the other end of the scale, the performance of 15 was of serious concern.

The MoJ says it is investing heavily in prisons and has recruited more than 3,000 additional officers as it aims to urgently improve conditions.

Prisons minister Rory Stewart said: “We need to get the basics right in prison, which is why we are giving them extra support to ensure they are safe, secure and decent.

“We recently announced an investment of £30 million to stabilise the estate, including £16m dedicated to improving facilities at prisons with the most pressing problems – to help bring them up to the standard we expect.

“And our recruitment drive is vital to ensuring prisons can be places where offenders can be rehabilitated. We are well ahead of schedule, with 90 per cent of our new 3,111 prison officers due to be on landings this summer.”