Black prisoners and white guards ‘should cook together to break down barriers’

Prison guards, senior managers and black prisoners were supportive of the idea of cooking and eating food together, the report said. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/PA

Black prisoners and white guards should cook and eat together as a way of breaking down cultural barriers and suspicions, the official prisons watchdog has said.

Some senior prison staff told HM Inspectorate of Prisons that the initiative could begin immediately after concerns of deep divisions between black prisoners and prison staff who remain predominantly white.