Sheppey’s prisons are becoming a “penal powder keg” that could explode unless action is taken, Gordon Henderson has warned.

The MP raised concerns over an increase in intimidation and violence, greater use of illicitly brewed alcohol, drugs and legal highs, and a more prevalent gang culture in the Island’s jails during a Commons debate at Westminster Hall.

He said morale was low among prison officers and staffing levels were down due to difficulties in retaining and recruiting personnel at sites such as HMP Swaleside, where he said 153 officers were in post despite there being a target number of 178.

He called for a “long-term solution”, and pointed out the Swaleside canteen was operated by a private company, DHL, which pays its staff a better salary than a newly recruited prison officer.

Mr Henderson called for a review of working conditions, the pay structure and retirement-age policy.

He said: “It is simply unfair that police officers and firefighters can retire at 60, whereas prison officers are expected to work until they are 68, despite their work being just as physically demanding.”

The Tory also said inmates often escaped punishment for attacks on staff and other prisoners, and called for those found guilty of such crimes to be treated as harshly as if they had been committed on the outside, and for sentences to added to whatever culprits were already serving.

He added: “What goes on in our prisons is rarely something that resonates with the public, so the prison service never receives from the government the priority that it deserves.

“It is the Cinderella service and prison officers are the forgotten public servants. In many ways, they are as much a captive of their penal environment as the inmates.”

Parliamentary under-secretary of state for justice Andrew Selous responded to Mr Henderson by acknowledging staff numbers fell over last year, and confirmed that by the end of March this year there were 70 officer vacancies across the Sheppey cluster.

He said staff had been offered additional working hours at higher rates of pay, and workers had been deployed from other parts of the country to plug gaps.

Mr Selous added: “We are aware that certain establishments are having difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, and a review is now being undertaken of the pay offered in the relevant areas. That includes the Sheppey Cluster.”

He said the government would consider information submitted to it about retirement age.

Mr Selous also said Elmley and Swaleside were among 24 establishments in the country that were piloting the use of body-worn cameras for prison staff.