A FLARE up in one wing of HMP Chelmsford Prison has sparked the Ministry of Justice to send a stark warning to prisoners.

The incident, which happened on Monday (December 26), came after prison officers staged a strike over concerns of prisoner and staff safety.

Nobody was injured, according to the Ministry of Justice.

A prison service spokesman, said: “On 26 December, prison staff swiftly resolved an isolated incident on one wing at HMP Chelmsford. No staff or prisoners were injured.

“The incident began at 16.30pm and was successfully brought to an end within 10 minutes with all prisoners secured in their cells.

“We do not tolerate this behaviour, prisoners who behave in this way will be punished and could spend significantly longer behind bars.”

In November, as many as 10,000 members of the Prison Officers Association (POA) took part in industrial action over health and safety concerns.

Speaking from the picket line, Mitchell Saunders, 57, chairman of the union's local branch, said: "This industrial action is being taken to show those above us just how hard it is in there.

"We're doing this because of the recent rise of assaults in our prison, prisoner on prisoner and prisoner on staff.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the industrial action is unjustified and the matter would be dealt with by the courts.

The Justice Secretary Liz Truss sent a letter threatening legal action, said the union.