There were 19 deaths in Sheppey's jails last year, it has been revealed, as violence and self harm in prisons continues to rise.

At Elmley, 10 prisoners died in 2017, including one suicide. There were seven deaths at Swaleside, of which three took their own lives.

And two deaths were recorded at Standford Hill. Across the country, 295 people died in jails in 2017, 184 from natural causes.

The figures, published by the Ministry of Justice, show that nationwide the number of inmates committing suicide has dropped significantly, from a record high of 120 in 2016, to 70 last year.

There were two suicides at Sheppey prisons in 2016, one at both Elmley and Swaleside.

No other deaths were recorded in other Kent prisons in 2017.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, a charity which campaigns to improve safety in jails, said: “Against a backdrop of continued problems affecting prison safety, there has been a welcome reduction in the number of people who have lost their lives through suicide.

"Given that 2016 was the worst year on record in this area, however, improvement was a must.

"There is no room for complacency when it remains the case that a prisoner dies by suicide every three days. We have no way of knowing how many more lives have been saved by quick-thinking staff, many of whom are working in intolerable conditions.

"As the prison system buckles under the weight of chronic overcrowding and staff shortages, the wave of violence and self-injury rises higher and higher.

"The new Secretary of State for Justice and his minister for prisons must respond boldly and urgently to this national emergency, to prevent more people being hurt."

Violence and self-injury have reached record levels and overcrowding is the problem, says the Howard League.

There were 28,165 assaults in prisons in England and Wales in 12 months to the end of September 2017, a 12 per cent rise on the previous year.

They included 7,828 assaults on prison staff – a 22 per cent rise compared to the previous 12 months.

Incidents of self-injury increased by 12 per cent to 42,837 over the same period.

It means that the number of assaults and self-injuries are at their highest since current recording practices began in 1978.