The number of inmate suicides in English and Welsh prisons has increased by an alarming 64 per cent last year, the prisons watchdog revealed yesterday.

Some 90 inmates took their own lives in 2013-14 — up from 55 the previous year, official figures show.

Publishing his annual report, prisons and probation ombudsman Nigel Newcomen said the increase reflected the level of mental illness and “a rising toll of despair” in prisons.