By Gareth Arnold and Josie Hannett

A prison wing has been reclaimed after a night of drama that saw up to 120 inmates involved in a serious disturbance.

The riot at HMP Swaleside was brought under control just after 1am today.

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All inmates are back in their cells. No prison officers were injured and an inquiry is now underway.

The specialist Tornado Squad - a group of riot-trained prison officers - had been called in, with officers drafted from across the south east.

Other prison staff were home, and the Prison Service confirmed no officers had been hurt.

The Tornado Squad is thought to have gone into action at about 10pm when police moved the press away from the prison, just as dogs could be heard barking inside.

At 10.30pm a Ministry of Justice spokesman said more Tornado Squad members were en route.

VIDEO: Reporters Ellis Stephenson and John Nurden are outside the prison.

The riot follows a major incident in Birmingham last week involving about 600 prisoners, described as the worst prison riot in 25 years.

Despite speculation on social media, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed no prisoners were moved to HMP Swaleside from HMP Birmingham following the riot there last week.

In an update just before midnight a Prison Service spokesman said: “Specialist teams from the Prison Service have been deployed into HMP Swaleside as part of the ongoing operation to manage an incident involving 60 prisoners isolated to one landing on one wing.

Fires were lit inside the building and emergency services were on the scene for several hours.

A helicopter - thought to be a police aircraft - was seen hovering over the prison.

Our reporters on the scene said a series of white vans - both marked and unmarked - had gone into the prison one by one.

Just before 9pm shouting could be heard from inside the prison.

A Prison Service spokesman said earlier in the evening: “The Prison Service is dealing with an incident involving 60 prisoners at HMP Swaleside.

"The incident is contained to one landing on A Wing. The rest of the prison is secure with all prisoners in locked in cells.”

People with relatives working at the prison expressed concern about their loved ones.

One woman from Minster, whose partner works at the prison, told KentOnline: "I have this worry every single day when my partner leaves for work and I saw it on breaking news sitting here with our eight-week-old daughter.

"It's not right that the officers are risking their lives to earn a living.

"It's not what you want before Christmas. I won't be able to relax until he walks in the door and god knows what time that will be."

Many people have taken to social media to express their anger at what they see as the deteriorating state of the prison service.

The category B prison houses more than 1,100 inmates, and A wing has 126 single cells.

Just last month we spoke to Dave Cook, POA branch representative at Swaleside, who told KentOnline officers were concerned about their safety.

Following the most recent inspection of Swaleside, published in July this year, inspectors described the prison as 'dangerous', with levels of violence too high and more than half of inmates saying it was easy to get drugs.

Highlighted in the report were:

• Levels of violence were too high and many incidents were serious – 69% of prisoners surveyed said they had felt unsafe at some time
• The use of force was high and the documentation associated with its use and justification was totally inadequate
• 52% of prisoners surveyed said it was easy to get drugs at the prison, 45% said the same about alcohol, and the diversion of prescribed medication was worrying
• The segregation unit was filthy and poor in all respects
• There was a shortfall of some 200 available work, training or education places
• And much offender management work was inadequate

The last incident at the prison happened on October 8, 2014, when three prisoners were involved in a disturbance, leaving one with stab wounds.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League, blamed a lack of staff for the deteriorating state of UK prisons.

He said: "Some fires have been lit, apparently, and basically we know that it's an ongoing incident."

"With the recent riot in Birmingham and a number of other disturbances in recent weeks it's not really a surprise.

"It's because of lack of staff, and we've got more prisoners behind bars. This produces a number of problems. With under staffing, lack of resources and over crowding we have seen the population in prisons double.

"This all contributes to the disturbances inside prisons."