The Bishop of Worcester has commented on a recently leaked report which suggested that at least 1,000 out of the 45,000 prison staff in England and Wales are corrupt.

The leaked document claimed that more than 500 prison staff are involved in “inappropriate relationships” with prisoners.

The report, put together by the Metropolitan Police and Prison Service’s anti-corruption unit, claimed that many officers were smuggling drugs and phones into jails and that some were even accepting cash from inmates to arrange transfers to less secure prisons.

The Rt Rev Dr Peter Selby, Bishop of Worcester and Bishop to HM Prisons, issued a statement on the report, which did say that the majority of prison staff were honest.

He said, “My experience of prison officers is that on the whole they start out with a desire to help the people for whom they’re responsible to live better lives.

“Although inappropriate activity among prison offers must be rooted out if public confidence in the prison service is to remain intact, it is worth remembering that even if the numbers of officers involved are as stated in the report, it is still true that the vast majority hold on to their original vision.”

Dr Selby added that the causes of the corruption lay in the huge strain put on the prison service.

“Like many things in the prison service that make headlines because they go wrong, they are made infinitely worse by the strain placed on a system that is having to deal with far more people than should be in prison.

“The pressures this puts on staff are enormous and sometimes people who would not have thought of themselves doing such a thing, go over the edge.”

Dr Selby suggested that different responses to crime would be ‘helpful’ in reducing the pressures on the prison service.

“The publishing of this report also underlines the importance of the role Chaplains have in ministering to staff as well as prisoners,” he said.