A LEADING charity has praised a Cumbrian prison as it bucks a national trend of declining prison officers.

New figures from national charity, Howard League for Penal Reform, has highlighted Haverigg Prison as one of the few establishments in the North West that is retaining staff levels.

As other prisons across the country are being hit with yearly declines, Haverigg is escaping the brunt of the cuts as it continues to create new positions.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the charity, has welcomed the news saying Haverigg is setting an example for other prisons across the region.

He said: "Haverigg is leading the way for prisons in England and Wales.

"Not only has there been a slight increase on last year but it's increased over the past few years.

"We welcome the fact that Haverigg is bucking the national trend and that it is clearly in a better postion than a lot of other prisons in the North West."

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The statistics, which were released yesterday, reveal that Haverigg Prison has seen an increase in the number of prison officers, bringing the total number from 100 to 103 over the past year.

These numbers have risen from just 80 in 2014, when the number of prisoners was cut from 90 the previous year.

Figures dating back to 2010 show that prison officer numbers dropped from 140 to just 80 members of staff managing almost 650 inmates.

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Mr Neilson said that although the increasing figures are welcome, more must be done by the government to tackle ongoing issues within the system.

He said: “Reducing resources while allowing the prison population to grow unchecked has created a toxic cocktail of violence, death and human misery. "These figures show how reductions in staffing and problems in recruiting and retaining new staff are feeding the problems behind bars."