# Wandsworth prison orders thousands of coats after heating fails

> A heating system failure at the 170-year-old jail forced authorities to buy emergency supplies as winter temperatures dropped to 12C.
- Title: Wandsworth prison orders thousands of coats after heating…
- Summary: A heating system failure at the 170-year-old jail forced authorities to buy emergency supplies as winter temperatures dropped to 12C. HMP Wandsworth's…
- Keywords: hmp wandsworth, heating failure, prison conditions, overcrowding, staff shortages, london, politics, news, Wandsworth, prison, orders, thousands
- Source: The Independent — https://independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/hmp-wandsworth-prison-heating-failure-conditions-b3070000.html
- Published: 2026-10-21T08:42:04+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: hmp wandsworth, heating failure, prison conditions, overcrowding, staff shortages, london, politics, news
## Heating failure forces emergency orders
HMP Wandsworth's heating and hot water system failed in November, becoming so critical it was officially recorded as a loss of service by the Independent Monitoring Board.
## Prison orders 1,500 coats and blankets
Prison management ordered an additional 1,500 coats, 1,000 blankets and 2,000 instant soups and noodles for male prisoners after winter temperatures inside the Victorian facility sank as low as twelve degrees Celsius.
## Overcrowding and staff shortages persist
Wandsworth is the second most overcrowded prison in the country, holding sixty to eighty percent more people than designed for. Approximately one third of staff are absent or unavailable on an average day.
## IMB warns of recurring heating problems
The Independent Monitoring Board warned that heating problems will recur until systems are fully replaced, rather than patched up in a piecemeal manner.The category B prison holds inmates in unsafe, overcrowded, unsanitary and squalid conditions.

> rather than patched up in a piecemeal manner
## Key takeaway

HMP Wandsworth's heating failure in November forced the prison to order 1,500 coats, 1,000 blankets and 2,000 instant meals for inmates in a facility already plagued by overcrowding and staff shortages.