14 APRIL 1967, Page 23

Sir: 'In existing prisons,' Lord Mountbatten writes in his security

report, 'there are no water closets in the cellk„ and chamber pots are provided. . . . I was not surprised to find these arrangements in the nineteenth century prisons, but I was very dis- appointed to find that the same system had been installed in the new prisons at Blundeston and Gartree, and evew in the- newest prison at Albany in the Isle of Wight which has not yet been handed over to the Prison Department'. This of proper sanitation andl hygiene is in my view degrading to staff and prisoners alike.'

Thew; perhaps; is one pertinent footnote to 'Felon!? article- (7 April). May I. suggest a second? When Pentonville was built over a hundred years ago—in 1850—ite cell- were alt provided' with water closets and running water. But these have, of course, long-since been removed.

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