An emergency plan to avoid prison overcrowding was triggered on Monday as more people were sentenced for their parts in the violent riots that broke out across Britain.
Operation Early Dawn has been introduced again in the north of England.
It means those waiting to appear in court can be held in police cells until more prison spaces become available, and defendants in custody are only summoned to magistrates when extra jail capacity is confirmed.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said on Monday that the measures are introduced on a regional basis in response to need and are currently only in place in the North East and Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire and Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire regions.
The government introduced quick sentencing for those arrested in the recent riots, which followed the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport on July 29, leading to hundreds of people appearing in courts across the UK.
But the Prison Officers' Association’s national chairman has said speeding up court appearances risked "clogging up prison cells".
Operation Early Dawn is not in place in southern England as the mass rioting and looting was more prevalent in northern towns and cities.
However there is speculation that the plan could later be rolled out in London and the South East after inspections earlier this year revealed many crumbling prisons were already at breaking point.
Violence and self-harm in jails is at "unacceptable" levels with overcrowding pushing some to the "point of collapse", the Ministry of Justice said last month.
A damning inspection of HMP Wandsworth revealed "appalling conditions" and "poor leadership at every level".
Most prisoners were sharing cells designed for one person and burnt-out staff could not accurately account for all inmates during the day, the report said.
The inspector also noted how some men had no access to showers for up to five days and cases of self-harm cases were rising.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has already announced plans to temporarily cut the proportion of a sentence that must be served before parole is possible from 50 per cent to 40 per cent in a desperate bid to free up space.
This is estimated to mean around 5,500 prisoners are released early in September and October. People convicted of terrorism, sex offences and domestic abuse will not be eligible.
Those involved in the recent riots will also be excluded from the early release scheme.
In the immediate aftermath of the disorder, defendants were fast-tracked to court for their parts in the riots in towns and cities outside London.
Among the first to face justice – on August 7 – were Declan Geiran, 29, Liam Riley, 40, and Derek Drummond, 58, who were sentenced together at Liverpool crown court.
Drummond had attacked a police officer on July 30, when a vigil for the girls who died in Southport in a knife attack was hijacked and turned into violent disorder.
Geiran set fire to a police van and Riley was involved in a violent stand-off with police on August 3.
Hefty prison sentences followed for rioters in Hartlepool and Plymouth on August 8, on the same day that rioters admitted attacks on police and shops in Manchester, Sunderland, and Rotherham.
That day, the Met Police announced ten arrests relating to a march on July 31 through Westminster, which culminated in violent stand-offs with police.
And in the last fortnight, those criminal cases began to appear at Westminster magistrates court as defendants were charged with offences including violent disorder, racially abusing police officers, affray, and assault.
At Inner London crown court on Tuesday, one of the first prison sentences was handed out over London disorder.
David Spring, a 61-year-old former train driver was jailed for 18 months after he admitted violent disorder.
He was seen making threatening and hostile gestures towards police, calling officers "c*nts" and joining in chants of "you're not English any more" and "who the f*** is Allah".
On Thursday, retired Hatton Garden jeweller Russ Cooke, 66, was sentenced to eight months in prison for hurling racial abuse at police, including making gun signs and references to the IRA.
The following day, Stevie Mulryne, 29, was jailed for 16 months for making a stabbing gesture towards police in the disorder near Downing Street.
And Charles Smith, 22, a tree surgeon, was jailed for 23 weeks after he “struck up a fighting stance” and chanted “scum” at officers.
Prison sentences have been handed out in London, reflecting the judiciary’s tough stance on punishments for anyone involved in the disorder and rioting.
But the jail terms have been noticeably longer in the north of England where the offences were more serious, including properties being set on fire and random strangers being attacked.
