The Prison Officers Association (POA) is also warning about the risk of drones dropping contraband into prisons.
Steve Gillan, the POA’s general secretary, said: “Unless it’s dealt with, I predict there could be a total disaster in one of our prisons if drones are flown in with incendiary devices, a gun or ammunition.”
He said there had been a “dramatic increase” in the use of drones, with criminals using them to get drugs in to prison.
“They simply fly up to a cell window and just hand them in, or drop them into an exercise yard or to a field where prisoners will be tipped off to pick them up. But because staff can’t be everywhere, inevitably these drugs get in.”
Mr Gillan says prison officers bear the brunt of the drone deliveries.
“I’ve never known it as bad for the modern-day prison officer dealing with the barrage of drugs and violence that fuels our prisons.”
He says the POA has been saying that things will get worse, not better, unless drones could be blocked from the perimeters of prisons.
