'Big rise' in police cell inmates

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The prison overcrowding crisis caused a huge increase in the amount of police cells used to house prisoners, the Conservatives have said.

Their figures suggest police cells were used 60,953 times in 2007 - compared with 4,617 the year before.

All but two of 42 forces in England and Wales had seen "huge increases" in prisoners being housed, they said.

The government said plans to build new "Titan" prisons, holding up to 2,500 inmates, would alleviate overcrowding.

Operation Safeguard, the use of cells in police stations as emergency accommodation for prisoners, was first introduced as a temporary measure in October 2006.

'Clogged up'

It was one of several measures used to ease overcrowding as the prison population in England and Wales exceeded 80,000.

The average estimated cost of holding a prisoner in a police cell under Operation Safeguard is around £385 per night

The Conservatives say that in the Metropolitan Police area alone, the numbers held under Operation Safeguard went from 333 in 206 to 9,799 in 2007.

Shadow police reform minister David Ruffley said it meant "police stations are being clogged up".

He added: "Government incompetence means police are spending more time as prison jailers and less time as crime fighters," he said.

A spokeswoman for prime minister Gordon Brown said the proposed three "Titan" prisons would "alleviate the current situation".

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said each police force had been consulted about how many cells it could offer, according to "operational pressures".

"The police forces involved in Operation Safeguard charge the Noms (National Offender Management Service) for the cost of making police cells available to accommodate prisoners," she said.

"Noms is closely monitoring the prison population and continues to investigate options for providing further increases in capacity."