An inspection of Medway Secure Training Centre has rated the youth jail inadequate and found it to be unsafe.

Produced by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, the report rated the overall effectiveness of the centre as inadequate, and found the jail was failing in several areas.

Safety, leadership and "promoting positive behaviour" was all rated inadequate, while other aspects of performance were said to require improvement.

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Medway fell under the spotlight in January 2016, when a BBC Panorama documentary made allegations of child abuse at the jail - and criminal proceedings in relation to this investigation are ongoing.

But the latest inspection in March found fresh failings.

Security arrangements remained inadequate, child protection records were incomplete, and areas of the jail where children reported feeling unsafe, such as stairwells and the education block, were not covered by CCTV.

Violence and use of force had also risen, but violent incidents were not recorded accurately; while inspectors found no records had been kept at the jail for several months from July 2016, although the Youth Justice Board was still receiving data at the time.

There had also been five ‘serious injuries or warning signs’ identified during restraints, all of which involved children saying that they could not breathe.

Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "Almost 18 months have passed since the BBC’s shocking Panorama

documentary, and yet today we read another awful report on Medway, which is clearly unfit to look after children.

"The Howard League opposed the creation of secure training centres in the 1990s and warned that children would be damaged and hurt in these institutions.

"For many years independent inspectors’ findings have underlined that this is a failed model of detention. After 30 years of children being mistreated and their life chances damaged, it is time to put an end to this.

"The G4S years were disastrous. Unfortunately, running Medway in the public sector does not appear to have made much difference. Children are still being placed in this jail, despite there being empty beds in the well-run local authority units.

"I shall be visiting the jail later this week to find out for myself."

Following the report a G4S spokesman said: "We are mystified by suggestions that employee records might not be available as there was a detailed handover of the centre a year ago, which included staff notes and records. We cannot comment on what may have happened since the transfer in July last year and neither are we aware of any subsequent requests for employee information.

"The transfer was completed to the satisfaction of the Ministry of Justice and the new operating team."

The National Offender Management Service (since replaced by Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service) took over the running of the jail from G4S last summer.