AN apparent rooftop protest at Portland prison which has been going on since midday has ended after the prisoner involved came down safely.

No-one has been injured and the situation has been resolved peacefully, the Prison Service said. He came down around 7.30pm.

Authorities had earlier confirmed an inmate at HMP/YOI Portland managed to get onto the roof of a building about midday.

Specialist staff tried to talk him down from the single storey roof.

Formerly housing younger prisoners, the prison at the Grove is now an Adult/Young Offenders establishment home to a wider cross section of offenders. The incident has occurred in the adult section of the prison.

Police officers were seen patrolling the perimeter of the prison and an ambulance was seen going into the jail.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “A prisoner at HMP Portland gained access to a single storey roof at around 12pm on Sunday.

“Specially trained prison staff are dealing with the incident.”

Dorset Police said it was aware of the incident but the matter was being dealt with by the prison service.

A similar incident happened at the jail three years ago when an inmate scrambled onto a pitched roof and stayed there for more than seven hours. It was not until late into the night that the stand-off ended.