Three hots and a cot

Actually, it's far more than just 'three hots and a cot' at some British prisons. It seems that conditions are so good in some prisons that not only are inmates ignoring opportunities at easy escape, drug dealers are actually breaking in to peddle their wares to the inmates.

In one example, a drug dealer regularly broke into a Yorkshire jail over a six-month period, using a ladder to climb the walls and supply inmates with drugs and mobile phones.

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"It tells me there's something wrong in society when people are breaking into prisons to bring in drugs, but the prisoners are quite happy to stay inside."

Inmates at a top security prison recently told Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, that conditions there were like a "holiday camp".

They said they enjoyed the use of satellite television and video game consoles as well as their free bed and board.

Prisoners receive wages topped up by bonuses for good behaviour, while drugs are sometimes cheaper in jail than on the streets.

It is understood that there have also been examples of prostitutes being smuggled into HMP Sudbury, a Category D prison, in Derbyshire.

Who says crime doesn't pay?