Prisoners are crammed in two-to-a-cell, eating out-of-date food and are locked up for 22 hours a day, according to the worried father of a young inmate.

The father, who wished to remain anonymous, fears prisoners at High Down spending too much time behind bars will not be sufficiently rehabilitated, and that his son is being turned into a “nut-case”.

From March 2014: Government denies 'crisis' at High Down Prison

From March 2014: Worried relatives slam Government's denial of High Down prison 'crisis'

His 23-year-old son has spent three-and-a-half years in prisons – including at Portland and Ford (near Bognor Regis) – but has never complained about the conditions elsewhere.

From April 2014: 'No crisis - prison safe', says High Down's Governor

He was sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent– a charge he pleaded not guilty to at the time, and of which he maintains his innocence.

Surrey Comet:

His father said: “My son is very strong. You’ve got to be to deal with prison, but he keeps telling me he’s coming to the end of his tether.

“They are banged up for 22 hours a day, two in a cell with a bunk bed, with a toilet, eating and drinking in the same place.

“I don’t know if he can tolerate it.

“You can’t do a lot worse than locking a man up for that long. They are keeping him locked up and turning him into a nut-case.

“You can understand why there are so many suicides and so many mental health issues in prison.”

From February 2016: Four prisoners died inside High Down prison in 2015, Ministry of Justice figures show

Ministry of Justice Figures released last month, showed four prisoners took their lives in High Down Prison last year.

The figures state that nationwide, 89 prisoners committed suicide in 2015.

From November 2014: Government "got it wrong" over cuts which led to "mackerel and dumplings" prison rebellion

From March 2015: Savage staffing cuts have made "genuinely fair and decent" regime at High Down prison difficult to deliver, report finds

The prison is designed to hold 999 prisoners but has an operational capacity – defined by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons’ (HMIP) as “the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold without serious risk to good order, security and the proper running of the planned regime” – of 1,163.

Surrey Comet:

At the end of January, High Down held 1,136 prisoners. A spokesman for the Howard League for Penal Reform described the prison as “114 per cent overcrowded”.

A prison service spokesperson said: “High Down Prison is safely and securely run and works to ensure prisoners can turn their lives around so they do not reoffend.”

The young man’s father is also concerned that prisoner’s skills are not properly utilised and they are not being prepared for work once they leave prison.

He said: “At Portland he used to ride the bike up the hill to the jailhouse café which was open to the public.

“At Ford he was working as a chef for the Help the Aged charity in Bognor. But there has been none of that at High Down.

“He’s been a good prisoner. He’s done his education and is a qualified chef now, but he hasn’t got a job.

“It seems foolish to train people up to that standard and then not to use them.”

Surrey Comet:

The 23-year-old man is coming to the end of his custodial sentence but his father worries that spending vast swathes of each day behind bars with what he says is no access to rehabilitation services will leave him ill-prepared for his release.

He said: “Towards his release date he should be making contacts with the things and people he is coming back to, but there has been none of that.

“If they are not doing that for him before he gets out, they are not doing it for anybody. He is not a special case.”

The father’s concerns of overcrowding and insufficient rehabilitation echoed issues raised in the last HMIP report on High Down, which was published in June last year.

At the time, Nick Hardwick, Her Majesty’s Chief inspector of Prisons wrote: “It was clear that outcomes for prisoners had deteriorated significantly.

“The prison was operating a restricted regime with reduced association, domestic and exercise periods for all prisoners.”

The prison service spokesman added: “Prisoners who have jobs and use their time productively will spend longer out of their cells than those who do not.

“Cells are fitted with screens to allow prisoners a level of decency if they are held with another offender.”

A Howard League spokesman added: “When you are locking up prisoners for huge swathes of the day and they are not getting out doing purposeful activities, what do we expect to happen?

“Those who are in prison probably have problems in their lives – issues that have caused them to offend.

“If we are not addressing these issues while they are in prison, but expecting them to lie on their bunk all day they will go on to reoffend.

“That is why this affects all of us.”

Have the issues raised in this article affected you? Get in touch at craig.richard@london.newsquest.co.uk