“Urgent action” is needed to stop drones being used to bring drugs and weapons into prisons, chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor has warned.

Recent inspections of HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin revealed major concerns regarding the safety and security of the sites including “thriving” economies of drugs, mobile phones and weapons. Mandatory drug tests revealed that 39% of prisoners in Manchester had tested positive, whereas 50% of inmates at Long Lartin who responded to a survey said it was easy to get drugs and alcohol.

The report found that drones could carry payloads of up to 1.3kg of contraband into prisons, often under cover of night. At Long Lartin, drones regularly delivered contraband to gangs in black plastic bags, while in Manchester the prison had failed to replace damaged netting over the exercise yards, making it easier for those outside to make the drops.

In the past year alone there have been 220 drone sightings in HMP Manchester, by far the highest across all prisons...