PRISON bosses have launched an investigation into claims of drug dealing inside a Hampshire jail.

Two inmates at Winchester Prison say they made about £25,000 in just six months from selling cocaine, crack and heroin.

They said they were using mobile phones – which are not allowed inside jails – to arrange deliveries which were thrown over the wall of the category B security prison in Romsey Road.

It was reported that the pair had up to 45 “clients” inside the prison buying the drugs from them.

The prison houses many dangerous criminals, including killers.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “HMP Winchester is investigating these allegations. The prison works hard to prevent drugs from entering the establishment.

“Thanks to our work with Hampshire Police, there have recently been several successful arrests of staff and visitors attempting to smuggle contraband into HMP Winchester.

“We use several methods to prevent contraband from entering such as body orifice scanning (BOSS) chairs, robust searches with specially trained dogs, and hand-held detectors,”

he added.

It is not the first time that Winchester Prison has had security problems.

Last month the Daily Echo revealed how a prison chaplain Jade Watson had smuggled in alcohol to a prisoner. She was jailed for eight months.

In 2008 a prison officer, Luke Ryan, was jailed for seven years for smuggling drugs into the jail.