A prisoner sparked an emergency alert after a rooftop protest at an East Staffordshire prison.

Five ambulances were sent to HMP Dovegate, in Marchington, after an inmate climbed on top of a Portakabin this morning, Wednesday, April 4.

West Midlands Ambulance Service received a call to reports of an incident at HMP Dovegate at 9.30am. They sent four HART (Hazard Area Response Team) vehicles to the prison gates and one paramedic officer.

The service said the paramedic remained at the scene while they assessed one patient but the other crews were stood down.

The prisoner got on the Portakabin roof at HMP Dovegate

Kerry Hewitt, Serco's assistant director at HMP Dovegate, said: "A prisoner climbed on top of a one storey Portakabin inside the prison this morning.

"I am pleased to say that he came down unharmed soon afterwards and so the ambulances that had been called as a precaution were not needed.

"The safety and security of everyone at the prison is always our first priority."

A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said they were aware of an incident but it was being dealt with by the prison.

One witness said she saw a convoy of emergency vehicles speeding along the A515 through Draycott in the Clay just after 9.30am.

She said: "It's not often you see that many – four ambulances came past with their emergency lights on and then a fifth went past a short time later."

Dovegate Prison is a male Category B training prison which is operated by Serco Justice and Immigration.

Opened in 2001, it is a training prison caring for more than 1,133 male adult prisoners over the age of 21, most serving a range of long-term sentences.

It also holds offenders on trial, remand, awaiting sentence and convicted men serving short sentences.

The prison also includes a separate 200-bed therapeutic community for repeat serious offenders. The facility is the only one that is privately-run in the UK, and the only purpose-built therapeutic facility.

In that special unit, prisoners are given a say in the day-to-day running of the prison and have far more influence over their experience of prison life than at normal prisons.

Justice officials say inmates "need to be more open about their offending" and are challenged by peers and staff within therapy and community groups.

Often they have a history of serious violent offending, poor institutional behaviour and prolific self-harm.