The prison has 1,460 inmates

Wandsworth Prison's record on basic standards is "indefensible", said Anne Owers in her report.

Many of the 1,460 inmates are locked up for 23 hours a day with little access to showers and telephones.

And 53% of Wandsworth inmates had never had 'association' - time out of cells mixing with other prisoners - compared to 1% in local prisons generally.

It follows two similar reports on Liverpool and Pentonville prisons.

Ms Owers said: "This is the third depressing report on an overcrowded local prison that we have published within three weeks. "

Today was the first day in six days that I received a shower Inmate Terry Barfoot

She strongly recommended the prison, the largest in England and Wales, have its capacity reduced to provide a better regime for inmates.

She said: "Wandsworth, as we found it, stands witness to the damaging effects of simply cramming more people into prisons that do not have the capacity or resources to do more than contain them, unable to offer fundamental conditions of decency, let alone carry out effective work to reduce offending.

"It is part of a prison system that is coping, but at a great cost to prisoners, staff and long-term public protection."

Prison inspectors dropped in unannounced in January.

They found 800 prisoners were locked in their cells at any one time and few had any activities or the opportunity to learn new skills.

Ms Owers also recommended individual prisoners' access to telephones and showers be strictly monitored.

Work with foreign nationals praised

One inmate, Terry Barfoot, 31, from Sutton, south London said: "Today was the first day in six days that I received a shower and it wasn't for the want of asking."

The report praised the prison in several areas, notably its work with foreign nationals, improvements in healthcare and its measures to prevent suicide and self-harm.

Director General of the Prison Service Phil Wheatley said since January new measures had been introduced to improve access to phones and showers and the time spent out of cells.

'Safe environment'

He added the only place Wandsworth prisoners could be removed to, would be police cells.

He said: "This would not, for those held in police cells, provide a better regime than that available at Wandsworth, would divert police resources away from policing and be expensive."

He added that the prison provided prisoners with the basic requirements of a "decent and safe environment".