The number of inmates who harm themselves in Oxfordshire prisons has climbed by 60 per cent in four years, it was claimed.
Research published by prison charity the Howard League for Penal Reform showed there were 167 recorded incidents of self-harm at Bullingdon and Huntercombe prisons last year - up from 104 in 2003.
In Bullingdon, near Bicester, self-injuries went up from 48 to 81 over the four-year period. In Huntercombe young offenders' institution they rose from 56 to 86.
Nationally, rates of self injury in prison rose by almost 40 per cent, from 16,393 incidents in 2003 to 22,459 in 2007.
The increase was almost four times as large as the ten per cent rise in the prison population over the same period. In 2003, the average number of men, women and children in prison was 73,000. By 2007, this had increased to about 80,000.
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