An investigation is underway after photographs were uploaded to social media which apparently showed inmates “kickin back” and posing for selfies in a prison cell.

Photographs on social media appear to show six prisoners, most of whom are believed to be from the Bradford district, posing in a cell and two taking selfies – raising concerns over how easily prisoners can get hold of mobile phones.

The Telegraph & Argus was sent one of the photographs by a concerned resident in Shipley – who recognised one of the men - and we found other selfies on Facebook profiles seemingly belonging to two of the prisoners.

One of the selfies has been liked 30 times and when one friend comments “hope you boys are well”, he is told they are “kickin back my son.”

The group photograph was found on one of the men’s Facebook pages and has received 86 ‘likes’.

One comment claims ‘The lads are back together again’ and another asks “How have you seriously not been caught with that phone yet?”

One of the men replies: “I have now haha got security spun other day.”

Serco, the company behind the running of HMP Doncaster, has vowed to prosecute those involved if they are found to have uploaded the photographs while in prison.

One of the photographs was sent to us by a concerned member of the public, who said the image portrays prison as a “holiday camp”.

He added: “They are in there chilling out and playing on their phones.

“I don’t like to think they are having a good time.

“There’s absolutely no repercussions.

“These people are the worse kind and seem to be enjoying their punishment.

“This is exactly why they fear no consequence and will continue their crime lifestyle upon release.”

Philip Davies, MP for Shipley, says the photographs are a “kick in the teeth” for the men’s victims.

The Conservative MP said: “It’s unacceptable if they have access to mobile phones to take photographs and are brazenly using them to upload to social media.

“People are sent to prison as a punishment and uploading photographs onto social media, which further disturbs the victim, is unacceptable.

“Victims want to know that when people are sentenced they are being punished and this kind of thing is another kick in the teeth.

“Mobile phones go through all sorts of routes into prison, through visitors, staff or people throwing them over the wall at a pre-arranged time.

“A Government bill is going through Parliament at the moment to block mobile phone signals in prisons and stop them using phones, which is long overdue.

“This should be in place early next year.”

A similar scheme which can detect phones from their mobile signal has already been trialled by The Scottish Prison Service (SPS).

Once a phone is detected, staff are then able to block the phone, and seek a court order to completely remove the device from the network.

Jerry Spencer, Serco Contract Director at HMP Doncaster, said: “Prisoners are not allowed to use social media under any circumstances and we have a zero tolerance approach to anyone who does so.

“We have taken immediate action to investigate this alleged incident and if it is proven to be true we will not hesitate to take all necessary steps to prevent a re-occurrence and if appropriate prosecute any individuals involved.”

This is not the first time concerns have been raised about the behaviour of people being punished for crimes they have committed.

Earlier this year, pictures posted on social media featured three men, from Bradford, taking a selfie while wearing their Community Payback vests and each holding a can of Carling lager.

The caption on the picture read: “Might as well have a few on unpaid work.”

This summer, a national newspaper published an article revealing that hundreds of prisoners were able use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram after getting hold of mobile phones behind bars.

The paper's Freedom of Information request showed that some 527 social media accounts were deleted in 2017 after they were updated by prisoners exploiting lax security to smuggle mobile phones into jails and then uploading photos and films.

At the time, fears were raised that inmates had been able to contact and taunt their victims while serving their jail terms.