Prisoners fought over a “perceived lack of hygiene” after the laundry at HMP Chelmsford was closed for three months in early 2024, a new report by the independent monitoring board has outlined.
Washing machines broke down on February 23, according to the report, and prison bosses were forced to send weekly loads of dirty washing more than 150 miles away to HMP Ranby, in Nottinghamshire.
A Prison Service spokesman told the BBC the issue was resolved with “swift action” as new boilers and washing machines were installed.
However, the report states the issue affected prisoners for months, with the men on C wing complaining in early April that they had not had a kit change in seven weeks.
It adds: “In this instance, wing staff were not collecting the bussed-in clean washing from the out-of-service laundry.
“The knock-on effect of this was to cause trouble in the wing population, with some men getting into and/or fearing getting into altercations with their cell mates through a perceived lack of hygiene.”
Prisoners also complained of cold showers and the lower floor cells in B and C wings, especially those near the showers, were damp with black mould in winter, the monitoring board claims.
Additionally, tensions occasionally rose as key football matches and sporting events were sometimes missed when TV aerials failed in wings.
Although, the author of the report notes, the Victorian wings are nearly 200 years old and “maintenance is not going to solve the issue of the age of the prison”.
The board praises “all the improvements seen at HMP Chelmsford over the past three years”, but notes there is “still lots of work to be done”.
It recommends the senior management team introduce targets for key operational areas, such as, for example, violence, self-harm and property loss.
“We believe this would drive a proactive culture of focusing on causes and defining actions,” the report explains.