They found a gym, well-stocked library and easy access to dental care. Getting hold of drugs or alcohol was also easy for the inmates, and they were allowed a five-minute free international call each week. But those following paganism struggled to get hold of certain religious artefacts to follow their religion, and transgender prisoners complained that makeup was hard to come by.

Three in five of those locked up in the Category A jail near Durham complained the quality of the food was either quite or very bad and griped about portion sizes.

The inspectors found enough sheets and duvets to go around but older prisoners in particular grumbled about their mattresses. More than half (55 percent) said getting hold of drugs was easy or very easy and the latest inspection report backed this up, adding: “Although lower than at prisons generally, drug testing suggested that more illicit drugs were available than in comparison to other high security prisons.”

A third of prisoners said accessing booze was also easy.

The findings were revealed in a survey of the 840 inmates housed in one of the UK’s most secure prisons by the independent Inspectorate of Prisons for England and Wales.

At the time of the unannounced check over nine days this January, more than 250 offenders were classified as category A, the highest security risk. Of those, nine were considered super high-risk category A. Nearly nine out of 10 were serving sentences in excess of 10 years. The majority were lifers or on indeterminate sentences.

All had their own cell and a third were over 50.

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke said the majority of inmates “had committed the most serious, and often violent, offences and posed very great risks to the public”.

But he praised the management of the jail, adding: “Frankland continues to ensure reasonable outcomes against all our tests of a healthy prison.

“Most prisoners reported feeling safe and levels of violence were low, despite all the risks.”

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