Ministers are being urged to release prisoners during the coronavirus pandemic, after Northern Ireland signalled it would let out more than 10 per cent of those behind bars.

Pressure is being put on Justice Secretary Robert Buckland to allow convicted criminals to head home, in order to prevent more deaths in England and Wales’ crowded prisons.

It comes as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirmed that, as of 5.40pm on Sunday, 55 prisoners had tested positive for coronavirus in 21 different prisons.

The first death – convicted paedophile Edwin Hillier, who was serving his sentence at HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire – was confirmed on March 22.

Staff numbers in prisons are already stretched, with some 3,500 employees, representing about a tenth of the workforce, currently in self-isolation due to Covid-19. Some 13 prison staff have tested positive in seven prisons, as well as four prison escort and custody services staff, the MoJ said on Monday.

Downing Street has signalled that some “vulnerable” prisoners could be set free for a time to protect them. The Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC) said prisons should be only for “serious and violent offenders” at this time, with judgments made on a “case-by-case basis”.

Jails in England and Wales were put on immediate lockdown on Tuesday with all visits cancelled, after it emerged thousands of staff were in self-isolation.

Simon Fell, Barrow and Furness MP, said questions need to be answered before prisoner releases are considered.

He said: "The balance has to be about risk and public safety. That cuts both ways.

"We don't want prisons to become breeding grounds for COVID-19, but nor do we want to see serious and violent prisoners on the streets.

"We would need to tread carefully with such a policy.

"Quite rightly we'd have to think about where the prisoners would go. Who would home them? How would they be transported?

"It may well be that being socially-distanced in prison may be the safest place for many of them"