FEARS have been raised about overcrowding at Bullwood Hall prison, in Hockley, following a Government report.

More prisoners are sharing cells because of increases in the prison population according to the annual report by the Ministry of Justice’s Independent Monitoring Board.

Concerns were raised about the rising capacity of the prison, which increased from 184 in July 2007 to 228 in July 2008.

About 40 per cent of the prison population of Bullwood Hall, which holds low-risk foreign prisoners in the last two years of their sentence, now share cells.

The report states: “These increases will stretch resources to an unacceptable level. Services such as healthcare, already experiencing an increased workload, will further degrade services to prisoners.”

Overall the board commended the prison’s management for maintaining standards during a year “of significant structural and organisational change”.

The monitoring board was appointed by the Ministry of Justice and is made up of ordinary members of the public.

A prison office spokeswoman, who declined to be named, said: “The issues highlighted are being addressed and progress is being made.”