OFFICER numbers at Chelmsford Prison have dwindled by 35 per cent in less than four years, figures have revealed.

Numbers published by crime charity the Howard League for Penal Reform show that as of June this year, the prison was employing 140 officers, compared to 214 in August 2010.

It was home to 690 inmates when the figures were recorded.

However, the Ministry of Justice has said the numbers aren’t a true reflection.

The Howard League said the drop in officer numbers has coincided with a deepening prison overcrowding crisis, and that prison populations continued to grow.

TheHMInspectorate of Prisons said last month it was concerned at the high level of self harm at the prison, and seven suicides since 2011.

The president of the Prison Governors’ Association, Eoin McLennan-Murray, said prisons are moving towards instability.

He said: “I’ve never known it to be as challenging, tough and difficult and as bad as it is now. I look round and speak to colleagues and what do I see? People worn down, tired and over worked.”

A spokesman from the Ministry of Justice said the figures produced by the Howard League weren’t like for like, and compared all officer grades from September 2010 with just the one, grade three, from June this year.

Prisons Minister Andrew Selous said: “It’s beyond me why the Howard League goes out of its way to deliberately mislead the public on the state of our prisons.”