PLANS to recruit more prison officers are just a “rehash of an existing scheme,” Labour said yesterday.

Justice Minister Liz Truss said she was listening to officers’ concerns they were “stretched too thin” and was seeking to recruit ex-soliders to the service.

But her Labour counterpart Richard Burgon said: “Liz Truss is so committed to prison reform her first act was to put it on hold.

“It’s clear from her speech that the Tories have no answers on the prisons crisis that has developed on their watch.

“They continually talk about recruiting more staff but then do the opposite. Nearly 5,000 front-line officers have been lost under the Tories, and they have failed spectacularly on previous recruitment drives.”

Prison Officers Association chairman Mike Rolfe said: “We cautiously welcome today’s announcement. The return to pre-2010 front-line staffing levels in 10 establishments will demonstrate that the administration has failed.”