INMATES at a flagship jail need better education and training, according to a new inspection report out today.

More than half of prisoners at HMP Forest Bank on the Bury/Salford border have the reading age of a five-year-old.

When it opened two years ago it was dubbed the "Prison for the 21st Century", but less than half the prisoners, many of whom are from Bolton, were found to take part in meaningful work or education and bosses at the jail have been told to increase the level of training they offer.

A 109-page report by Anne Owers, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, says education and training is important to help prisoners gain employment on their release from jail.

She said Forest Bank had "insufficient work for all prisoners". She also concluded there were "insufficient teachers and instructors, poor individual learning plans, insufficient professional staff development and insufficient externally accredited qualifications."

But on the whole, Ms Owers reported Forest Bank to be "a very good local prison."

In the jail's defence, Debbie Nash, learning and employment manager, said five inmates achieved A-star GCSE grades in art and a total of 43 prisoners achieved a GCSE grade A to E last year.

She said the prison -- which otherwise received a good report from the inspection -- had a large library, many classrooms and education tailored towards individual prisoners' needs.

Chris Downey, aged 20, from Bolton, is in Forest Bank after being sentenced for his part in a street robbery. He said: "Forest Bank isn't a bad prison at all and there are opportunities to gain qualifications which perhaps most of the people in here didn't achieve at school."

Daniel Hayes, aged 21, from Tyldesley, was sentenced to 18 months for burglary and he works reconditioning starter motors at the jail. He said: "I miss the freedom but as a former heroin addict, I've been able to get my head together. Having the chance to work breaks up the day and gives me a purpose. I won't be coming back here when I'm released."

Forest Bank opened in January, 2000 and is an all male, Category B jail with 1,040 prisoners.

It opened in January 2000. In July 2000, a month after Princess Anne officially opened the privately run jail, a mob of 60 inmates went on a seven-hour rampage causing £100,000 worth of damage.

Ms Owers said: "We found many examples of staff dealing sensitively and appropriately with difficult prisoners. We were concerned about the low staff-prisoner ratios on the main wings but we could find no examples of collusive or unsafe behaviour as a consequence."

LOCK UP: The cells at Forest Bank Prison