A prison officer has been arrested in a swoop by police investigating drug smuggling, writes Karen Rosine.

Undercover officers from Scotland Yard's anti-corruption squad arrested the man, in his 20s, at Bullingdon Prison at Arncott, near Bicester, on Saturday.

The arrest followed a tip-off to police that hard drugs had been smuggled in to prisoners. The arrested man, who has not been named, is based at the prison.

Officers from the Metropolitan force, CIB3, have been liaising with prison service officials throughout the operation. The prison officer has not been charged but has been bailed to report to Banbury police station in mid-July.

Nobody from the prison would comment on the allegations that a prison officer had been arrested for smuggling drugs.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of people caught smuggling drugs to inmates at the prison after security was stepped up last year. A total of 34 people were arrested last year trying to smuggle drugs into the prison.

They have appeared before Bicester magistrates and most of them received short prison sentences because of the seriousness of the offences.

The prison has had a sniffer dog for almost a year while CCTV cameras have also been installed.

Story date: Monday 17 May

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