What is a Tornado Team, which prisons have riot squads and what happened at HMP Long Lartin?
SPECIALIST Tornado Teams tasked with quelling prison riots have seen plenty of action in the last year after a series of uprisings at jails across the UK.
Here's the lowdown on the elite officers tasked with restoring order to Britain's prisons - including their latest action at HMP Long Lartin...
What are Tornado Teams?
Tornado Teams are units of elite officers sent in to prisons to bring riots under control.
They are usually made up of 50 officers who dress in Robocop-style black boiler suits.
The squads are armed with batons and protected by shields.
Members are picked from serving prison officers and undergo four months of specialist training.
Every officer carries an American-style PR-24 sidearm baton.
They also wear heavy duty riot helmets to protect against head injuries as they storm the wings.
What has happened at HMP Long Lartin?
Some 80 lags took over a wing at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire after attacking staff with pool balls.
The trouble is understood to have begun on the evening of Wednesday, October 11, 2017 and was quelled by 2am the following morning.
Specialist Tornado squads were dispatched to high security prison to restore order to E wing at the 622-capacity category A jail.
A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "Specially trained prison staff successfully resolved an incident at HMP Long Lartin on October 12. There were no injuries to staff or prisoners.
"We do not tolerate violence in our prisons and are clear that those responsible will be referred to the police and could spend longer behind bars."
When else have Tornado Teams been called in to tackle prison riots?
A series of prison riots over the past year have been attended to by the elite squads.
In October 2016, a specialist unit had to be called in after inmates rioted at Lewes prison in East Sussex. Four prison officers retreated to safety before the chaos was brought under control.
In November 2016, riot squads used stun grenades to wrest back control of HMP Bedford from 230 lags armed with knives.
Inmates went on the rampage, flooded gangways, seized keys from warders, broke into medicine stores and started fires.
The violence was brought under control after an operation lasting six hours.
On December 16 2016, HMP Birmingham was rocked by disorder as 600 lags took over the prison.
The 12-hour riot caused £2million of damage after inmates took over four wings of the jail.
Just a week later, rampaging prisoners took over part of a prison wing at HMP Swaleside, in Kent.
Tornado Teams were able to wrestle back control of the jail from 60 inmates after they "surrendered" at around 1am on December 23.
The elite officers were also instrumental in restoring order after armed lags went on the rampage for two consecutive days at HMP The Mount near Hemel Hempstead, Herts, in July and August 2017.
Shocking footage captured on the first day of unrest showed cheering prisoners tearing through the jail, hammering on caged windows after the chaos broke out.
A report also warned "zombie" drug Spice was a "big concern", with drones delivering the substance into the prison “still getting in” despite a decline.
