Ford Prison is accepting more high-risk men

The assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo), Harry Fletcher, has confirmed to the Observer that an average of 20 prisoners a month were transferred to Ford in each of the past three months, although they were deemed unfit for day release.

The alarming statistic will be included in a dossier prepared by the union for all open prisons in England and Wales. The document is to be handed to the Ministry of Justice, which has said its attitude has not changed.

Ford is a category D prison, suitable for those who can be trusted not to try to escape. Its 470 or so inmates are allowed to work in the community or go on home leave after passing a risk assessment.

Ford typically receives between 20 to 30 new inmates a week. More are increasingly classified as category C and even category B '“ deemed one step below maximum security.

A serving prison officer, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Observer Mr Fletcher's figures are accurate. He said staff morale at the prison was at an all-time low.

He claimed sickness levels, owing to stress and assaults by inmates, are growing.

"The public believe that officers are in charge of inmates' welfare, but our hands are tied," he explained.

"We have to accept whoever the government sends to us, even when we know our conditions are unsuitable for them, and will impact on both their rehabilitation and that of the men we already have here."

"The category B prisoners are particularly prone to drug dealing and bullying other inmates," he continued. "They tend to try to avoid interacting with staff but if we confront them, they have been known to turn violent."

One inmate was recently found drunk in the early evening. It is believed he obtained alcohol by walking along the riverbank to a Littlehampton shop.

As far as drugs are concerned, the officer said parcels were being thrown over the wall from the outside on an almost-daily basis.

In response, the Ministry of Justice said: "Our position has always been to safeguard the public. This has not changed. Any prisoner whose behaviour causes concern that he/she cannot safely be managed in an open prison will be returned to closed conditions."

Ford has also been named as having the third worst record for inmate walk-outs among all open prisons in the country.

The past four years have seen 439 prisoners abscond from the jail. The government is unaware of how many have been recaptured.

In 2006, there were 70 absconders.

Ford governor Fiona Radford said she was surprised to learn of Ford's position in the absconding league.

"Year on year for the last four years, our absconding rates have decreased. We are not complacent, one abscond is one too many, but it is the nature of open prisons," she said.

She claimed Ford's rates were below the target set for it by the Prison Service.

Ms Radford conceded that the number of sick days for each member of staff '“ at an average of 9.1 days each last year '“ was a huge problem, but stressed the welfare and safety of her staff was her top priority:

"Our advice is for staff to make a sensible judgement and not place themselves at risk," she said. She added that Ford benefited from having 'extremely brave and committed members of staff' and reaffirmed her support for them.