ROCHESTER Prison was put on a major security alert and a prison chaplain sacked after a key was lost, it has emerged. It is believed hundreds of thousands of pounds had to be spent on changing locks after a chaplain broke his key in one of the doors and threw the other part away.

Medani Mehieldin, 42, a chaplain for asylum seekers, sparked the security alert when he accidentally snapped the key in one of the Category B prison's main entrances. He asked a prison guard to let him out and the prison authorities were only alerted about the security breach when an officer found the broken key.

A spokesman for the Prison Service said: "A member of staff was sacked following an investigation into a breach of Prison Service rules. We investigated whether or not the key could have fallen into the hands of inmates or been copied. The key was eventually traced back to this individual."

It has now been revealed this incident happened in September, a month before the jail suffered one of the worst prison riots in the last 10 years. Then 30 young inmates ran amok, taking an officer hostage and leaving a trail of destruction estimated at £100,000.

The Prison Service refused to confirm reports that the missing key incident meant that a total of £500,000 was spent to get 20 locksmiths to change 1,500 locks. The Kent prison houses around 300 prisoners and 160 asylum seekers and Mr Mehieldin is a Muslim Imam whose role was to offer prayer and counselling for the asylum seekers.