The prison population in England and Wales has dropped by 2,188 in a week following the mass early release of offenders to deal with overcrowding.

There were some 88,521 prisoners as of 6 September – a record high with only 1.2% capacity left in the system.

But as of Friday, the number had fallen to 86,333, according to new Ministry of Justice figures.

Labour’s early release scheme came into effect earlier this week.