Greenock Prison housed 302 inmates at the time of the report

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons pointed to conditions for inmates in the main wing at Greenock Prison.

It was overcrowded and cells were said to be "shabby" but the report praised relations between staff and prisoners.

The Scottish Prison Service said it welcomed the "fair and positive" report and would implement recommendations.

Prison inspectors visited the jail in December, when there were 302 inmates being held there.

More than half of those were housed in Ailsa Hall which is more than 100 years old.

Overcrowding in prison makes things worse for everyone Inspectorate report

It is meant to house 131 inmates but on the day inspectors visited there were 187.

This meant convicted and remand prisoners, youth and adult prisoners, were being kept in the same hall.

The report said: "It is simply not possible in these restricted overcrowded conditions that the very different needs of long-term prisoners and short-term unconvicted young remand prisoners can be adequately met."

It added that the prison was doing its best to cope with the problem but stated: "Overcrowding in prison makes things worse for everyone."

Another part of the jail, Darroch Hall - which houses long-term prisoners serving four to 12 years - had screens in cells round the toilets.

Again it was recommended that these should be replaced with cubicles.

'Lacking motivation'

In addition, inspectors raised concerns about the provision of healthcare in the prison, recommending that arrangements be reviewed.

It said there was an "uncertainty" about the number of hours the doctor was meant to be in the jail.

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Healthcare staff were described as lacking motivation and the report also raised issues over the prescribing of medicines.

Three-monthly reviews of prescriptions were not carried out by medical staff.

The report revealed that in one case a prisoner was prescribed strong pain killers for three years while another had difficulty getting such medication.

However, the report did highlight a number of examples of good practice including the strategy for dealing with sex offenders.

The canteen was described as "excellent" and inspectors commended the practice of having fruit and cereal freely available in some of the halls.

It said there was good access to physical education

Community placements, part of preparation for release for long-term prisoners, were said to "work well".

Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was moved to HMP Greenock in February 2005 from a purpose-built cell in Barlinnie Prison.