Prison one of 'most overcrowded'

Exeter Prison is designed for 316 inmates

A Devon jail is one of the most overcrowded in England and Wales, according to new figures.

Exeter Prison is among the top 10 most overcrowded prisons in the country, along with Durham and Preston.

The prison is designed to hold 316 prisoners, with a maximum capacity of 533 and at the end of July had 515 inmates in detention.

It takes adult and young offenders committed to prison by courts from Devon, Cornwall and west Somerset.

The government figures show more than half the prisons in England and Wales are officially overcrowded and in July one in five of these jails were forced to exceed its safe overcrowding limit.

The Prison Reform Trust said the level of overcrowding poses "a real danger" to the proper running of prisons and puts public safety at risk.