Lancaster Farms Prison dismiss an inmate's claims that there was no fresh or clean water for six hours last week, leading to prisoners starting a protest.

Derek Brooks, 38, called his fiancée Louise Burton on October 25, and told her about the protest that broke out when prisoners were ‘told to drink dirty water’ during the outage.

Louise said inmates at HMP Lancaster Farms couldn’t flush their toilets and the taps wouldn’t run.

She said: “One of the guards then started to bring round buckets full of dirty water for them to use, which no human should be given to drink.”

However, Lancaster Farms have claimed that whilst there was no water from 11am to 5pm on October 25, due to a water supply issue, inmates were given clean hot water from the kitchens for drinking during the disruption and "the rest of the claims are false".

Derek, who has been inside for around a month, also told Louise one prisoner apparently sprained his arm because he slipped on water that had leaked from a bucket which a guard didn’t clean up.

Lancaster Farms say they received no reports of a prisoner slipping and injuring themselves.

Speaking on the treatment of the male prisoners dring the incident, Louise said: “Most of the people who did drink that water are all ill now because it was absolutely filthy.

“My fiancé wasn’t actually part of the protest because he didn’t want any trouble, but they were all on the landing shouting at the guards to turn on clean water.

“They managed to sort it out after nine hours but the way they’ve been treated is awful.”

Around 500 men are incarcerated at Lancaster Farms, a Category C facility on the outskirts of Lancaster.

There are four units with a mixture of single and double rooms and a first night care centre for new arrivals.

Despite the website stating: “Lancaster Farms is committed to providing a safe and educational environment where men can learn new skills to help them on release,” Louise said she has been exposed to “how poorly prisoners are treated there.”

She said: “The guards treat you very differently. You can get some that treat you like a piece of s**t, and then a few that treat them with respect and how you’d want to be spoken to.

“They’re going through a lot of mental health problems there. Some of them can’t even ring their families because they can’t afford it.”

Prisoners are allowed to make phone calls using credit which can be purchased, but Louise claims that because of the rising costs of phone calls and canteen food, prisoners “have to choose between eating well or speaking to their loved ones.”

Addressing this issue, Lancaster Farms say that prisoner canteen prices are set by DHL, their supplier, and prices only change according to market rates. 

Louise and Derek, who were living in Preston when he was arrested, with Louise having subsequently moved to Norfolk, have been together for the past two years and have a one-year-old child and another baby on the way.

He was sent to the prison after the rules of his suspended sentence he has been serving was broken.

Derek is expecting to be released next week but Louise said the date keeps getting pushed back which is causing a lot of stress.

Louise said: “I don’t know how many other prisons are being run but Lancaster needs to sort it out and treat them with respect and like human beings.”

A Prison Service Spokesperson said: “These claims are false. Clean water was provided during a brief water outage that lasted a few hours.

“Food and phone prices are set by our suppliers and follow market rates. Prisoners are not charged for food at mealtimes.”