Inmates bitten by rats and venomous spiders as state of prisons laid bare in report

At Bullingdon prison, in Oxfordshire, inmates were bitten by venomous false widow spiders, according to a new report - (PA)

Inmates in the crumbling prison estate have been bitten by rates and venomous spiders, according to a new report that lays bare the state of prisons in England and Wales.

Vermin infestations are an “acute issue” across the prison estate, the report found, with inspectors describing cockroach invasions, biting flies living in the showers, dead rodents rotting on the wings and cells taken out of use due to bedbugs.