Prisoners have made hundreds of complaints about the north-east’s £150million “superjail” since it opened earlier this year.
Food, laundry and even the gym facilities have been the subject of grievances from inmates at the new HMP Grampian in Peterhead.
The new figures, released through Freedom of Information laws, reveal 292 complaints have been filed since the jail opened in March – an average of more than one a day.
The revelation comes just months after violence broke out in the prison’s Ellon Wing, resulting in £150,000 of damage during a 14-hour stand off with prison officers and the police.
Guards were forced to use pepper spray to subdue rioters, many of whom have now been scattered to other sites across Scotland.
Aberdeenshire councillor Alan Buchan, a vocal critic of the HMP Grampian project, said prison chiefs should have spent less on the latest facilities and more on staff.
“There’s looking after prisoners and then there’s going to stupid lengths – they’ve done that at HMP Grampian,” he said.
“Realistically a prison half the size and a fraction of the cost should have been built here.
“I’m disappointed but I’m not surprised because these prisoners have nothing better to do with their time. They will look at things where they can play the system and get better treatment by complaining.”
The new figures reveal 43 protests about “prisoner regime”.
An additional 33 complaints were made about staff, 18 about the canteen and 16 about food.
Individual grievances with clothing, laundry and telephones have also been received since the prison opened in March.
Last night a Scottish Prison Service spokeswoman said: “If a offender has any concerns during their time in custody they are able to raise them via our formal complaints procedures.
“The vast majority of issues are resolved at the initial stages of submission. The independent Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is also available to prisoners if they remain dissatisfied.”
Of the 292 complaints received by SPS, 29 were about medical care, which is provided by NHS Grampian.
A spokeswoman said: “NHS Grampian deals with all feedback and complaints about healthcare services at HMP Grampian.
“Complaints are dealt with locally wherever possible and investigated through the same route as the mainstream healthcare feedback channels when necessary.
“There is no evidence of a spike in complaints since the new prison opened, and in some months, the figure has been below average.”
Last night a former female inmate of the prison told the Press and Journal many of the complaints were unwarranted.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said: “Out of all the jails I’ve been in, I can honestly say it was one of the better ones.
“I know a lot of people who complained and it was all stupid things. The food’s not bad and the accommodation’s not bad because it was all brand new.”
She said staff seemed undertrained and unable to cope with the number of prisoners during her stay.
“Since the riots they’ve cracked down and I think that’s why the complaints have started,” she added.
Banffshire and Buchan Coast MSP Stewart Stevenson, who recently met senior figures at the prison, was positive about its future.
He said: “What I would say is that in a completely new prison the regime will take time to settle down and prisoners will inevitably try to see how far they can push the boundaries.
“I’m confident that as things bed-in, the staff at HMP Grampian will continue in the best traditions of Peterhead Prison and do what they do best, which is keeping the public safe, whilst helping offenders to be useful members of society with a set of skills on their release.”
HMP Grampian’s predecessor, HMP Peterhead, was notorious for a 1987 siege during which inmates took over the facility.
When the SAS were called to put down the riot and rescue 56-year-old guard Jackie Stuart from the Victorian prison, one of the rioters’ biggest grievances was the distance families had to travel to visit.