Prisons Minister Andrew Selous has hit back at claims that a rising rate of suicides behind bars in 2014 is linked to cuts in prisons staff.

According to data compiled by the Howard League for Penal Reform, 82 prisoners took their own lives last year, including one suicide in HMP The Mount in Bovingdon, and the Chief Executive of the national charity believes people are dying as a direct result of the cuts to members of staff.

Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "No one should be so desperate whilst they are in the care of the state that they take their own life.

"The numbers hid the true extent of misery inside prisons and for families. It is particularly tragic that teenagers and other young people have died by their own hand in our prisons and we should all be ashamed that this happened.

"Hard-pressed prison staff have to save lives by cutting people down almost every day and without this the death toll would be even higher.

"It is evident that people are dying as a direct result of the cuts to the number of staff particularly more experienced staff, in every prison.

"The government has chosen to allow the prison population to increase whilst it cuts staff, and that has led to an increase in people dying by suicide."

The highest number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons was four, and these occurred in HM Prison Elmley in Sheerness, Kent and HM Prison Wandsworth in London.

According to an annual report by the Independent Monitoring Board for March 1, 2013 and February 28, 2014 for HMP The Mount, personnel resources were described as "stretched to the limit" with figures showing the prison was failing to recruit enough officers.

The report stated: "There have been permanent reductions in staffing levels through changes to operating profiles."

A Freedom of Information request made by the Watford Observer revealed there were 20 members of the staff left from The Mount between January 1 2014 and September 30 2014.

But Prisons Minister Andrew Selous hit back at the claims, saying: "Every death in custody is a terrible tragedy. We remain focused on doing all we can to prevent them.

"What I cannot understand is why the Howard League is trying to use the loss of life for their own campaigning purposes. They are deliberately misrepresenting the situation in our prisons for their own ends. This helps no one - at least of all the vulnerable individuals in prison whose well-being is the absolute priority or prisons staff and ministers alike."