SNIFFER dogs should be brought back to jails to snout out “zombie drug” spice, prison officers said yesterday.

Use of the psychoactive substance, a synthetic cannabinoid which can cause users to pass out and hallucinate, has soared in prisons over the past two years.

A motion at the Prison Officers Association conference called for “passive drug dogs,” which are trained to sit next to the source of drug scents, to be “returned” to all category-B, C and D prisons.

The conference heard that “new psychoactive substances” (NPS), the most common of which is spice, were being chucked into jails through gaps in fences and walls.

HMP Nottingham delegate Richard Williams said: “We’re sick to death of working on landings that stink to high heaven of these substances.

“The use of NPS has gone through the roof. We need to get a grip and get the dogs back in our jails.”

POA executive member Jackie Marshall added: “We all know NPS is having a major impact. The dogs must be returned to the establishments.”

The conference also endorsed a call for inmates who lash out at guards to be made to serve consecutive sentences.

Delegates condemned the authorities for allowing additional sentences to instead be served concurrently, or not prosecuting violent prisoners at all.

HMP Humber delegate Mick Danby said: “A concurrent sentence is not punishment.

“It’s a joke, it’s a kick in the face for every member of staff who walks through the prison gate.”