MORE than 200 phones were discovered in Ford Prison last year, the Prisons Minister has revealed.

Ford Prison in West Sussex is one of just seven prisons which accounted for over a quarter of all mobile phone finds in jails across England and Wales.

In Ford Prison 202 phones were seized from prisoners last year, as 7,451 phones or sim cards were taken from prisoners nationally.

These discoveries have lad to claims criminals could stalk victims and run criminal empires from jail.

In Lewes Prison 51 phones were discovered.

The figures were revealed by Prisons Minister Andrew Selous in a written answer to a Labour MP.

Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan claimed the figures showed the problem was getting worse and could lead to offenders continuing their criminal activities from behind bars.

Mr Khan said: "Justice Secretary Chris Grayling promised to sort the problem of mobile phones in prisons, instead it's getting worse.

"Criminals behind bars with access to mobile phones can carry on running their criminal empires and can harass and stalk their victims.

"It is totally unacceptable, and instead of simply seeking headlines David Cameron needs to get a grip and sort out this issue."

It is a criminal offence to use an unauthorised mobile phone in jail and Mr Selous said the prison system is getting to grips with the problem.

The Tory minister said: "This Government is clamping down on the use of mobile phones in prisons, and seizures have increased.

"Prisons use a comprehensive range of robust searching and security measures to detect items of contraband such intelligence-led searches, body searches, use of x-ray machines, metal detectors and CCTV surveillance cameras, as well as body orifice scanners."

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "The increase in finds demonstrates how well our staff are performing their role, and how committed we are in tackling this issue.

"Mobile phones have presented a complex challenge for the service for many years but these figures make it clear that we are improving both detection and recording rates. It's disappointing for anyone to suggest that increased reporting is a bad thing."