STANDARDS have “collapsed” at Manchester prison, which is plagued by drugs, violence and rat infestations, inspectors found today.

The prison inspectorate warned HMP Manchester, formerly known as Strangeways, is in desperate need of improvement and issued an urgent notification letter to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood over the squalid conditions at the notorious jail.

They found a “steep rise” in self-harm and that violence is so rampant it has the highest rate of serious assaults in England and Wales.