The number of suicides in jail has risen to a record level, figures show, with seven prisoners killing themselves over the Christmas period.

Overall, 91 inmates killed themselves in 1999, more than 10% up on the 82 deaths in 1998.

The report from the Howard League prison reform group said the suicides included four young prisoners aged under 18, 15 aged 19-21 and five women.

The Prison Service said the seven deaths happened during the last fortnight of the year, with four taking place between Christmas and New Year.

The prison population stands at approximately 65,000, pushing the rate of suicides per 100,000 inmates up to 140 from 126 last year, and 99 a decade ago.

Many inmates who killed themselves were at local prisons which often suffer from overcrowding. They house inmates on remand and immediately post sentence.

Sixty-two per cent of people committing suicide were on remand.

Manchester prison had seven suicides in 1999, the worst record, compared with five at Leeds and four at both Brixton and Leicester.

Frances Crook, director of the Howard League said: "Despite the best efforts of many prison staff, the prison experience continues to prove unbearable for many who are sent there.

"It is particularly disturbing to see that the majority of these people are unsentenced, while many are young and in custody for relatively minor offences."

She said the scale of the problem showed the prison system was failing to provide decent, humane care as it struggled with a record prisoner population.

Care instructions revised

An alternative to sentencing was called for - she suggested greater emphasis on community sentences rather than custody.

Director General of the Prison Service Martin Narey said he was "deeply concerned" about the rise in suicides and pledged reversing it was the "top priority" for prisons.

Instructions to prisons on caring for potentially suicidal prisoners are to be updated and sent out this year.

Key areas for improvement include screening inmates quickly to identify those at risk as soon as they come into prison, when many suicides happen, and devoting more resources to relieving the pressure on local prisons.

Mr Narey has also ordered the end of the use of bare strip cells as holding rooms for suicidal inmates.

He added that a large number of people coming into prison had already got a lot of problems including a history of suicide attempts, drug dependency or mental disorders.