HMP Hewell has seen the number of prison officers cut by nearly 50 per cent in just four years.

The Tardebigge prison has seen a reduction of 48 per cent as the number of officers dropped from 330 in August 2012 to just 170 in June 2014.

It is the largest reduction in numbers in the West Midlands despite the prison having a population of 1,289.

The figures, obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform, reveal that across the West Midlands the number of prison officers in the region's jails has been cut by 38 percent.

Research published by the charity, the oldest penal reform charity in the UK, says that across England and Wales there were only 14,170 officer grade staff working in prisons run by the state at the end of June 2014.

There were more than 24,000 at the end of August 2010.

But this includes 1,375 officer posts that were lost when 15 public-sector prisons were closed during the period.

In the West Midlands region, officer numbers have been cut from 1,917 to 1,180.

The drop in officer numbers has coincided with a deepening prison overcrowding crisis and an alarming rise in the number of self-inflicted deaths in custody.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The prison system is in crisis, and these figures reveal why. While the prison population has grown, officer numbers have been cut without any thought for the consequences.

“A shortage of governors makes matters even worse, because officers are being taken off the wings and asked to ‘act up’ to fill vacancies."

The charity’s findings were supported by the Prison Governors’ Association and the prison officers’ union, the POA, which urged the government to act.

Since then, the damaging impact of staff cuts has been highlighted in a series of inspection reports published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons.

Governor of HMP Hewell Nick Dan said he was unable to comment while a spokesman from the Ministry of Justice questioned the figures saying that the charity is not comparing like to like for the headcount of all officer grades.

Prisons Minister Andrew Selous said: "It's beyond me why the Howard League go out of their way to deliberately mislead the public on the state of our prisons.

"They are less overcrowded than they have been for a decade and they are well-run, due to the dedication of the hard-working staff in them.

“We have seen a rapid improvement in the labour market in the South East, which has led to temporary staff shortages in some prisons."

He added: "However, we are conducting an ongoing recruitment campaign and establishing a reserve force of staff who can be called on when needed.”