A prison which installed alcoholic hand gel dispensers to combat swine flu had to withdraw them within hours after a drunken fight between inmates.

Some men apparently drank the stuff neat, while others mixed it with sugar and fruit to make hooch. Warders noticed that three or four prisoners were the worse for wear, while one was said to have started a fist fight with another. The governor of The Verne, a Category C jail on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, had no alternative but to ban the detergent.

Peter McParlin, south west representative of the Prison Officers’ Association, said members had warned the jail’s management not to introduce the gel, which is 70 per cent alcohol. ‘Hooch, in the experience of staff, is just as bad if not worse than drugs.

‘Prisoners with drinks which have extreme alcoholic content become extremely violent with consequences on health and security. ‘We understand there was an alternative to the hand gel which was a foaming soap which did not contain alcohol but served the same purpose. But that was considered and disregarded as it was more expensive. The prisoners took the gel from the dispensers on the wing and put it in a kettle.

‘They steamed it and strained it to leave pure alcohol and mixed that with sugared water and fruit. They turned it around very quickly.

I’ll have mine with a twist please. In other news the nanny state has outlawed the use of antibacterial hand gel in all of the UK… just kidding, maybe.