As many as 1,500 extra places are needed in Welsh prisons according to the man in charge of them.

John May, operations manager for the Welsh prison service, made his comments as a prison pressure group condemned a 29% rise in suicides in England and Wales prisons.

Both prison managers and campaigners agree overcrowding is a major factor in the rise.

Not only in Wales, but across our service, overcrowding is a major issue John May

However, two Welsh prisons have received praise from the chief inspector of prisons in a report published on Friday.

It followed an unannounced visit to prison and youth offender institutions at Usk and Prescoed, a split site, in Monmouthshire.

The report said an atmosphere of respect prevailed at Usk, which deals exclusively with sex offenders, although it did note that overcrowding was an issue.

Prescoed open prison's efforts to rehabilitate and resettle prisoners improved their chance of getting a job when they were released.

HM Chief Inspector of Prison, Anne Owers, said: "HMP Usk and Prescoed is a safe prison, with a strong sense of ownership and pride in the prison among staff and prisoners.

"It is also one of the few training or open prisons that we have inspected which has excellent training workshops, geared specifically to prisoners' employability.

"Usk's offending behaviour programmes are central to its work and ethos.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers

"The prison's healthcare provision is very good, not least because it focuses on the specific needs of an older prisoner population."

Inspectors recommended that sex offenders in denial about their crimes should not share cells with those undergoing treatment programmes to avoid a risk of undermining their progress.

There are currently 2,200 inmates in Welsh prisons, the vast majority at Cardiff, the privately-run Parc near Bridgend, and Swansea.

Last year there were 94 suicides in English and Welsh prisons, compared with 73 in 2001.

Mr May said: "Not only in Wales, but across our service, overcrowding is a major issue."

'Degrading'

Frances Crook, of the campaign group the Howard League, said this was not acceptable in a civilised society.

"The improvements to prison regimes being attempted by the prison service in the last couple of years have been undermined by the sheer number of people now being sent to prison by the courts.

"People have paid for the degrading and inhumane conditions in our overcrowded prisons, with their lives.

"The home secretary must act now to end this tragic loss of life," he said.