SHIPLEY MP Philip Davies has called for the Government to stop the early release of prisoners who attack staff while behind bars.

He said staff safety must be prioritised as numbers of assaults continue to rise but the extra jail time for those who assaulted prison officers was reduced to 16 days on average last year.

Between October 2015 and September last year there were 6,430 assaults on prison staff, 761 of which were serious. This was an increase of 40 per cent from previous 12 months and 82 per cent rise since 2006.

Mr Davies is set to table an amendment to the Prisons and Courts Bill which would end the automatic early release of any prisoner who attacks a prison officer when it returns to the Commons to be debated in its later stages.

He said: "Prison officers have a very hard and, at times, dangerous job.

"I am sick of hearing about the pathetic additions to sentences for prisoners who assault them.

"One reason for the breakdown of order in prisons is that prisoners know that no matter how badly they behave, they will be released halfway through their sentence.

"All that is given for assaults on prison officers is extra days."