There have been six apparent suicides at the jail in the last year

The Prison Service said Mark Keeling, 31, from Stoke-on-Trent, was found at Shrewsbury Prison on Wednesday morning.

Mr Keeling, who was on remand accused of burglary, died in hospital at about 2100 BST. He is the third inmate at the jail to die in such a way in two weeks.

Phillip Parvin, 40, also from Stoke, died from hanging on 31 August. Lee Nottingham, 30, died on 19 August after he was found hanged at the prison.

'Most overcrowded'

Mr Parvin was on remand for theft, while Nottingham had just begun a three-month sentence for the same offence.

There have been six apparent suicides at the jail in the last year.

Deaths in prisons are a rare event but each one is a terrible tragedy Prison Service spokesperson

Enver Solomon, from the Prison Reform Trust, told BBC Radio Shropshire: "What this reflects is the enormous pressures which the jail has been under, given the vast numbers that have been crammed into the prison.

"It's one of the most overcrowded jails in the country."

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Deaths in prisons are a rare event, but each one is a terrible tragedy affecting families, staff and other prisoners deeply.

"Although the rate of self-inflicted deaths in prison is substantially higher than the rate of self-inflicted death in the community, it is not greater than that of people under supervision in the community."

She said that tackling prisoner suicides and self-harm was a key priority for ministers and the Prison Service as a whole.

An investigation will be carried out into the deaths at the jail by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Stephen Shaw.