A soaring number of serious attacks have rocked HMP Kilmarnock.
Serious assaults in the high-security jail increased fivefold to 15 between April 2018 and March this year.
There were only three during the previous 12 months.
Chief Inspector Gillian Docherty told a council meeting the assaults were committed by inmates on other prisoners.
The area police commander told councillors that police officers are working closely with the Bowhouse staff to tackle the problem.
A police report said there has been a “stark rise in serious assaults at HMP Bowhouse.”
It added: “We have been actively engaging with staff there to address this issue.”
Bowhouse is operated by Serco and mostly holds criminals sentenced at Kilmarnock and Ayr sheriff courts.
Knife crime is also on the up, the East Ayrshire police and fire and rescue committee heard this week.
The police report presented to councillors said: “There has been an increase in knife crimes from 148 to 159 and detections from 120 to 140 in this reporting period.
“This is an area in which we will endeavour to have a positive impact on in the coming reporting period.”
The figures emerged as Chief Inspector Docherty presented a crime report to East Ayrshire’s councillors.
Overall crime is down by 5.3 per cent across the area, statistics show.
