Lincoln prison was opened in 1872

The prison's independent monitoring board said a decision to put off a wing's refurbishment led to poor morale among guards and inmates.

The report also said there had been high sickness levels among staff at the jail following the riot last October.

However, it did praise the way staff have coped during what it called "a difficult year".

The Prison Officers' Association had said previously that it believed overcrowding and understaffing at the jail were mainly to blame for the riot.

The morale was pretty low Jacqui Tilley, prison governor

Recent figures from the Prison Reform Trust backed up this claim by revealing Lincoln Prison was the most overcrowded in the country - the Home Office denied there were too many inmates in the jail.

But this latest report has said overcrowding was not the main reason for the riot.

John Webster, from the Independent Monitoring Board, said: "A decision was made away from the local region to cancel the refurbishment of A wing.

Staff sickness

"It is not going to be refurbished yet. It has been repaired but it is still not refurbished to the same standards as the other wings in the prison.

"This obviously leads to inconsistencies over the way prisoners are dealt with."

About 150 inmates caused damage in the riot

Now the board has recommended that the problems over refurbishment are addressed by Home Secretary David Blunkett.

The riot saw more than 150 prisoners go on the rampage wrecking parts of the prison and looting the pharmacy.

One prisoner, Lee Blake, 37, of Scunthorpe, later died from a drugs overdose.

Another problem identified in the report was the high level of sick leave being taken, especially following the riot.

Prison governor Jacqui Tilly, who was not in charge when the riots happened, said this problem had been addressed.

"The morale was pretty low. They had just been through a major disturbance.

"My sick leave was very, very high but as I speak today sickness is the lowest it has been over the past 12 months."