Number of prisoners in England hits all-time high

Ministry of Justice statistics show there were 84,897 inmates behind bars on Friday, a rise of more than 400 in just a week.

The total population is now 1,740 places below its absolute capacity of 86,637.

Last month Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced the end of an early release scheme that has seen more than 80,000 offenders let out.

No prisoners were eligible for the controversial End of Custody Licence (ECL) scheme after March 12 and the last remaining ECL prisoners will be let out on April 9.

The new figures are likely to raise fears new measures will be needed to relieve pressures on the prison estate after the General Election.

More than 2,500 electronically tagged prisoners are out under Home Detention Curfew, another release scheme.

Mr Straw has pledged to increase the prison capacity to 96,000 by 2014.

Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve pledged to ensure ECL is not reintroduced if the Tories gain power.

He said: "As Chancellor, Gordon Brown refused successive Home Secretaries the funding they needed to provide adequate prison capacity.

"As Prime Minister, he released 80,000 prisoners early. Labour simply have no credibility when they talk about criminal justice.

"We campaigned relentlessly for this reckless scheme to be scrapped and if elected we will provide the new prison capacity we need to ensure it is not reintroduced".

The prison population first passed the 84,000 mark in August last year. A report last year found two thirds of prisons are overcrowded, and some jails hold hundreds more inmates than they were built for.

The Prison Reform Trust report said Wandsworth prison in south London had 1,650 inmates but space for just 1,107.