Three inmates from Dartmoor prison have been transferred from the jail after what was described as a "near riot" last week.

About 41 inmates at the Devon prison were involved in what the Prison Service called "an incident of indiscipline" last Monday.

Prison officers were sent into the prison's A-wing after inmates refused to return to their cells. No one was injured.

The 38 other inmates involved are to have their cases reviewed to by independent adjudicators to see if disciplinary action should be taken.

Quell disturbance

Trained prison officers were sent into the wing at about 0120 GMT on Tuesday to bring the disorder under control.

A Prison Service spokesman said: "The officers used to quell the disturbance were specially trained to control and restrain inmates if necessary."

However, the situation was resolved peacefully and the jail suffered no damage as a result of the disturbance.

But the Prison Officers' Association has said what its members actually did was narrowly avert a riot.

Prison overcrowding

The incident comes after The Prison Reform Trust said Dartmoor Prison may be breaching the Human Rights Act year.

In a report earlier this year the trust said overcrowding was stripping prisoners of their dignity and decency, and could compromise security.

Martin Narey, the director general of the Prison Service, said overcrowding was "regrettable" but described the report as "somewhat melodramatic".