Staff at a prison in Banstead were called to more than a dozen serious medical incidents in a single day, relating to drugs.

A report from the Independent Monitoring Board found that prison staff at HMP High Down faced 13 “code blue” incidents, where prisoners had collapsed or suffered serious breathing difficulties, in one day last year.

A separate report released last week, focusing on HMP High Down found 49% of prisoners surveyed thought it was “easy” to get hold of drugs at the prison, down slightly from 56% in 2024.

Prisons minister Lord James Timpson said “positive improvements” have been made but “more needs to be done” to improve.