PRISON officers at HMP Birmingham are “even more terrified than the prisoners,” former inmates said today.

As the government announced it would take over G4S’s contract, recently released inmates revealed just how bad conditions inside the crisis-hit prison were.

Speaking as he was released, one told reporters that he believed prisoners had gained more influence since a notorious riot in December 2016 involving at least 500 inmates, when prisoners took a set of keys from a guard and unlocked cells.