Loyalist protest at Maze carries a hefty price

Damage to Northern Ireland's Maze Prison will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and take several months to repair, following the protest by Loyalist prisoners, it emerged last night.

The damage was described as some of the worst ever seen by prison officers at the top-security Co Antrim jail. The Prison Service described the incident as 14 hours of "wanton distruction" by the Loyalist Volunteer Force inmates.

Furniture was burned, walls blacked, electrical wiring torn out and toilets and showers ripped out and smashed. The 27 prisoners were moved to other parts of the prison when warders moved in on Wednesday night to bring their protest to an end.

Two prison officers suffered arm injuries and one prisoner a head wound during the operation to clear the men out from behind their barricades.