According to the BBC, there were a record 84,596 inmates in the male prison estate as of Friday 23 August.

The total capacity across the male and female prison estate in England and Wales is 89,383. There were 3,638 inmates in women’s prisons.

The UK government is taking a number of measures to increase prison capacity, including changes to the automatic early release of prisoners which will see some prisoners released after 40 per cent of their sentence is served instead of 50 per cent.

Some 5,500 people are expected to be released from prison in September and October as a result of the change.

Meanwhile, defendants awaiting court appearances will be kept in police cells until space is available for them in prison, and sentencing hearings for bailed defendants have been postponed.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said the Labour government, which came into office in July, “inherited a justice system in crisis and has been forced into taking difficult but necessary action”.

They added: “Staff across the whole criminal justice system are working incredibly hard and the government will continue to support them before the changes come into effect on 10 September.”