Thameside prison criticised over violence and regime 14 May 2013 Last updated at 04:28 A privately-run prison which has been open just 12 months has been criticised for its levels of violence and restricted regime. The findings came in a report on Thameside jail in south-east London. Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons for England and Wales, said the prison was effectively in lock down for much of its first year in operation. The National Offender Management Service said action had been taken to address the concerns. The chief inspector of prisons found that the number of assaults by inmates was high and prisoners believed the staff were too inexperienced to deal with the violence. Privileges call Mr Hardwick said that as a result of the violence Thameside had adopted what he described as one of the most restricted regimes he had ever seen, with the majority of prisoners in their cells during the working day and some locked up for 23 hours. The Howard League for Penal Reform said the situation at Thameside undermined ministers' recent calls for prisoners to work harder when they were out of their cells to earn privileges. HMP Thameside is a local category B establishment that can currently hold 900 convicted and remand male prisoners, run by Serco Home Affairs which is part of Serco Group. It was opened along with G4S-run HMP Oakwood near Wolverhampton last year, creating about 2,500 prison places in total.