Inmates have been bitten by venomous spiders and rats, report reveals

Prisoners have been bitten by venomous spiders and rats, according to a report highlighting ‘dangerous’ conditions behind bars.

The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) said false widow spiders nipped inmates at HMP Bullingdon, near Bicester, Oxon, after they were disturbed during construction work.

At HMP Hollesley Bay, in Woodbridge, Suffolk, a prisoner was bitten by a rat while sorting rubbish, the report went on.

False widow spiders - which have a leg span of about the size of a 50p piece - have a venomous bite which is ‘no worse than the pain of a wasp sting’, according to the Natural History Museum.

The arachnids are sometimes confused with the highly dangerous black widow.

‘Vermin and waste mismanagement led to extremely unhygienic, and occasionally dangerous, conditions for prisoners,’ the report said.

‘IMBs described cockroach infestations, biting flies infesting showers, dead rodents rotting on the wings and cells taken out of use due to bedbugs, which could be disruptive when a prison was at full capacity.

‘Rats were a particularly common issue, with board members reporting unacceptable conditions in kitchens and on wings.

‘At Hollesley Bay, a prisoner was bitten by a rat while sorting through rubbish.

‘Bullingdon attribute prisoners being bitten by venomous spiders as a result of disturbance by renovation work.’

Earlier this year the kitchen at HMP Pentonville, north London, had to be closed for three months after ‘large numbers of rat droppings’ were found on the floor.

Prison buildings across the country have suffered an ‘alarming physical decline’, the report said.

It also found serious problems with leaky roofs, sanitation, heating, ventilation and fire alarms.

IMB chairwoman Elisabeth Davies said: ‘Prisoners are enduring appalling conditions across the board, yet they often lack the motivation to submit complaints, as the dire state of things has become normalised for those most affected.

'Whether they are eating, working, sleeping, or receiving medical care, the shocking level of neglect reported by local IMBs across the country, and the impact of this on those living in these conditions, cannot be ignored.’