Many cells in Leeds Prison are holding two prisoners

The Prison Reform Trust says the jail is among the top ten in the list of overcrowded prisons and warns of "a serious crisis unfolding in jails across the country."

A spokeswoman for the prison said: "Threequarters of our cells are overcrowded at Leeds Prison, some cells designed for one person have got two in.

And she added: "Our capacity is 806, with one person per cell, but we are expected to lock up 1,254."

As the new Criminal Justice Bill begins a second reading in the House of Lords on Monday, the charity says the proposed new legislation will raise the prison figures by 14,000 within 10 years.

The current prison population of 73,379 is the highest-recorded level of inmates, reveals the charity and it says that the UK locks up 139 people per 100,000, the highest rate in the European Union.

'Uncompromising government'

Juliet Lyon of the Prison Reform Trust said: "Prison overcrowding is at crisis point, putting intolerable pressure on prison staff, harming resettlement hopes for prisoners, damaging family ties and threatening public safety."

A Prison Service spokesman told BBC News Online: "Whatever the population pressure the government is uncompromising in its response to serious and dangerous offenders.

"Where there is a need to protect the public, this will take place in a secure environment.

"Prison should be reserved for those serious, dangerous and persistent offenders for whom a custodial sentence in the only proper response.

"The government has made �60m available to provide an extra 740 prison places by March 2004.

Two new prisons are planned within two years with a capacity to hold 1,290 inmates."