Two prisoners who tried to break out of their first-floor cell at Winchester jail by removing bricks are still being questioned by police.

The 21-year-olds, both from Southampton, made their bid for freedom on Saturday night.

A police spokesman said they were thwarted when prison officers heard noises, checked the cell and found it had "a new window" - a head-size hole.

In the cell were hand-made tools and a plaited rope.

The prisoners were taken to Winchester's North Walls police station for questioning on Wednesday and yesterday (Thursday) detectives visited the Romsey Road prison to talk to wardens.

"I don't envisage a total result for a few weeks yet - these things take time because it's quite a serious offence," added the spokesman.

Prison spokesman, Ivan Augustus, said: "We are conducting our own internal investigation to see if any lessons can be learnt. We will now test all our procedures.

"The prisoners had removed a couple of bricks but how they did it and whether they had inside help will come out during the course of the investigation. These are the types of questions we need to ask."

The attempted break-out comes just over a year after convicted killer, William Todd (38), sawed through his cell bars and scaled the perimeter fence - the first escape from Winchester in over 30 years.

The warden accused of helping Todd escape returned to work this week after being cleared of any involvement. He had been suspended while police and prison officials investigated the incident.