An inmate at Lincoln prison was found dead in his cell on Friday morning, a day after police and guards quelled an eight-hour riot.

The prisoner is thought to have died from a massive drugs overdose after inmates broke into the pharmacy.

More than 20 other prisoners were taken to hospital suffering from suspected drug overdoses after trouble broke out at the jail on Wednesday night.

The riot started just before 2000 BST when a small group of inmates attacked a prison guard, beating him over the head with his own truncheon and locking him in a cell.

Officers hurt

A spokesman for the Prison Officers' Association estimated more than �2m damage was caused to the Victorian jail, where Lord Archer was recently held.

Three prison officers were injured in the riot, and 24 prisoners were taken to hospital, mainly suffering the effects of drugs.

'Died overnight'

The man was found dead in his bed at around 1000 BST after he was believed to have consumed a large amount of drugs.

A spokesman for Lincolnshire Police said: "We can confirm that a body was found there this morning.

"It was a man in his cell. He died overnight and was found this morning in his cell."

A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out later on Friday by a Home Office pathologist.