Prisoners are reportedly resorting to making stab vests out of cardboard, as violence escalates at a Kent prison.

It comes after five prison officers were injured in a "disturbance" at HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey this week.

The incident of “indiscipline” broke out at the category B men’s prison on Monday, sparking a Ministry of Justice investigation.

According to the Prison Officers' Association, inmates are selling cardboard vests as the threat of being stabbed or slashed rises - a claim dismissed as "rubbish" by the MoJ.

London and Kent representative Mike Rolfe said: "I have been told prisoners are making to order cardboard stab-proof vests."

"It would be more about reducing the damage. Obviously cardboard is not going to provide too much protection but you can harden it and they are reasonably concealable so it’s not too obvious.

"They are just that worried, they want body protection basically."

But an MoJ spokesman said: "A suggestion prisoners at HMP Swaleside are making anti-stab vests is complete rubbish."

Several prisoners are thought to have been moved to other jails in the wake of this week’s incident.

"I have been told prisoners are making to order cardboard stab-proof vests. They are just that worried, they want body protection basically" - Mike Rolfe

It is believed some of the officers were taken to hospital for treatment.

A statement from the MoJ yesterday said the prison was operating as usual and an investigation is under way to establish what happened.

Mr Rolfe said Monday’s disturbance broke out after a gang became violent when one of its members was pulled up for indiscipline.

He had heard as many as 24 inmates were transferred once order was restored and injuries to prison officers were thought to include a broken nose and a gash under one staff member’s eye, possibly caused by a bladed weapon or a kick to the face.

He says there have been “real concerns” about Swaleside as of late which he put down to a lack of staffing and structure and a growing swell of discontent among prisoners.

Mr Rolfe said: “There is potential for larger problems. There’s a massive shortfall in staffing. Staff are burned out from working there. That makes it difficult for them to stay on top of their game.”

He said the National Offender Management Service had designated the jail, a “red spot” because of its difficulty in recruiting staff and retaining them after they join.

MP Gordon Henderson, who visited Swaleside last month, said: “In my meeting with the POA there they did raise concerns there about an increasing tension in the prison.

“In fact, I also visited Elmley on the same day and it was noticeable when I visited them last, Elmley was struggling and Swaleside was relatively OK but it seems it’s actually changed and Elmley is better off with resources and Swaleside is struggling, frankly because of difficulty in recruiting.”