A PRISON officer has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling drugs into a young offenders’ institution.

The Ministry of Justice last night confirmed that an unnamed officer at Deerbolt Young Offenders’ Institution, near Barnard Castle, is being questioned by police over the alleged supply of Class A drugs.

The officer, who lives in County Durham, was detained at the Category C training prison on Friday. He has been suspended while investigations continue.

Deerbolt, which opened in 1973 on the site of a former Army camp, can hold about 500 prisoners aged 18 to 21.

Most of its inmates come from the North-East and Humberside, with the majority serving sentences of four years or fewer.

A March 2009 report into the prevalence of drug-taking in the prison said the level of serious drug misuse at Deerbolt has remained low. It said that since April 2006, the rate of positive random drug tests has remained at about four per cent.

The Deerbolt website said the prison and its drug strategy team were “committed to reducing the risks posed to public safety from those who misuse substances”, and said the team’s intention was “to contribute to the provision of a safe, secure and healthy environment within which those in our care will have the option to abstain”.

Inmates are offered one-toone contact with a drug worker, voluntary drug-testing programmes, counselling and even referral to detoxification clinics.

A spokesman for the Prison Service said last night: “An officer at HMP Deerbolt was arrested at the prison on Friday, September 9, on suspicion of possessing drugs with intent to supply and breach of the Offender Management Act for holding Class A drugs.

“He has been suspended from duty awaiting the outcome of the police investigation".