An inmate set fire to a plastic bag full of paper in his cell yesterday.

Firefighters were called to the blaze at High Down near Banstead at about 3.30pm.

A spokesman at Banstead fire station said the prisoner used his lighter to set fire to a bag on the window sill.

He described its contents as possessions, including "paper and bits and pieces", but could not be more specific because the bag was destroyed.

Prison staff managed to extinguish the fire before the crew arrived.

It is not the first time a prisoner has set fire to their cell.

Feb 24: Inmate starts fire in prison cell at High Down near Banstead

Dec 2: Firemen called to 'mackerel mutiny' prison three times yesterday, including to blaze started in cell

The incidents come in the wake of 11 men being cleared of mutiny last year for barricading themselves in a cell to protest at Government cutbacks which led them to be locked up for up to 23 hours a day.