Flaming packages were hurled over the walls of a Salford jail in a bid to bypass prison security measures.
Video footage shared online shows items which have been set alight being thrown onto the netting above HMP Forest Bank from outside the prison walls.
The burning packages can be then seen dropping to the floor.
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It’s thought the incident was an attempt to place contraband items inside the prison.
Several people can be seen beneath the nets trying to retrieve the items in footage shared with MailOnline.
Officials at the Category B prison say the incident “illustrates the lengths to which some criminals will go”.
Sodexo Justice Services, the private firm which runs Forest Bank, confirmed that the incident happened there several months ago.
Footage shared on Youtube shows a number of men gathered in the yard as three flaming packages are thrown onto the netting above their heads.
At least one of the items is seen to burn a hole in the netting and falls to the ground - breaching security measures intended to stop ‘throw overs’.
A person filming the footage from inside the prison can be heard to shout: “Go on then boys, we’re gettin' busy.
“Go on lads.”
As one of the items drops to the ground it is scooped up by an inmate and a voice can he heard to say: “Go on the boys. Burn through.”
Bosses have confirmed that the incident happened at Forest Bank - a privately-run prison - several months ago.
Director Matt Spencer says Sodexo, which runs the jail, has invested heavily in security systems.
In a statement he said: “This incident happened several months ago and illustrates the lengths to which some criminals will go.
“We continue to work closely with all law enforcement partners to disrupt this type of criminal activity and continue to invest heavily in our security systems.”
Several people have been implicated in the supply of contraband at Forest Bank over the years.
Some offenders have resorted to 'throw-overs' - where drugs are hurled over the prison wall, to get drugs inside.
Three people were arrested after a package was thrown into the exercise yard of the Salford jail last December.
A quantity of class B drugs was later recovered from the prison grounds.
