PRISONS need a complete reset as inmates are being “warehoused” in “brutalising” conditions, reformers have urged.

This follows a warning issued by the prisons watchdog that some of those released early will “inevitably” reoffend.

About 1,700 prisoners were released on Tuesday from jails across England and Wales under plans to cut overcrowding, in addition to some 1,000 prisoners normally freed each week.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said that while the government “had no choice but to do something” about overcrowding, “it’s inevitable that some of these prisoners will get recalled to custody and it’s inevitable that some of them will go out homeless.

“If people are coming out, they’re not properly prepared, and they’re homeless, then what we’ll see is the danger that they’ll commit more offences, or that they breach their bail conditions, in which case they’ll end up back inside again.”

The prison inspectorate’s annual report projected a growth in the prison population and detailed a “desperate” crisis in violence and drug use, as well as a lack of available rehabilitation.

Prison Reform Trust chief executive Pia Sinha said: “We cannot continue to warehouse people in these conditions and expect that things will be better when they’re released.

“Building safer communities depends on prisons having the resources and political support to provide opportunities for people to get the help they need.

“That means time spent in education, training and work, rather than sharing an overcrowded cell for 23 hours a day; getting treatment for addiction, rather than developing a new one; improving access to mental healthcare, rather than accepting the avoidable high levels of self-harm and deaths in our prisons.”

The Howard League for Penal Reform chief executive Andrea Coomber KC described the “woeful education and training” for inmates, saying there was “squalor, self-harm, drugs, violence and unmet mental health needs, all in the midst of severe overcrowding.”

She said: “The brutalising conditions spelled out in this report show why criminal justice reform must be a priority for the new government.

“While the capacity crisis has attracted significant media attention, the inspectors’ findings reveal what is actually going on behind bars.

“And although the early release scheme starting today will ease some pressure and buy a little time, more action will be needed to achieve a lasting solution.

“The situation in prisons and probation requires a complete reset.”