A council environmental health official has been called in to Forest Bank prison in Salford amid reports of a growing infestation of rats and mice. One former inmate has described how rodents can get into cells and 'chew' on their food.
The claims come a month after the privately run prison - operated by Sodexo for the Ministry of Justice - was savaged in an inspectorate report which concluded the jail was 'unable to fulfil its role successfully'. The same report also noted 'an ongoing problem with mice'.
Today prison officials would not be drawn on the scale of the infestation when pressed by the Manchester Evening News but they did confirm a council environmental health official had visited the jail, sited on the banks of the River Irwell in Agecroft.
