Staff injured at detention centre

The centre near Doncaster can accommodate up to 112 detainees

Eight staff at a South Yorkshire immigration detention centre have been treated in hospital after inmates set fire to the building.

Staff union officials said the fire was started in response to protests at Harmondsworth immigration centre on Wednesday.

Firefighters spent two hours tackling the blaze at Lindholme detention centre near Doncaster early on Thursday.

The staff were treated for smoke inhalation. All were later discharged.

It is not often recognised just how dangerous some of these detainees are Brian Caton, Prison Officers Association general secretary

Prison Officers Association general secretary Brian Caton told BBC Radio Sheffield the incident at Lindholme had been sparked by reports of what had happened at Harmondsworth.

In the wake of the Harmondsworth blaze, about 150 "low risk" detainees were released from other centres to allow inmates to be transferred from the stricken site.

Mr Caton said: "They wanted releasing as well and they decided they would set fire to various parts of the unit.

"Our members responded very quickly. Unfortunately, there were a number of prison officers injured in putting that down.

"It is not often recognised just how dangerous some of these detainees are."

The centre, next to Lindholme prison in Hatfield Woodhouse, can hold up to 112 single men and has been used to accommodate detainees since 2000.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The fire service attended an incident at HMP Lindholme in the early hours of the morning.

"That has been dealt with and there has been no loss of accommodation."