The Chief Inspector of Prisons has condemned conditions at Armley Prison, Leeds, as "hideously overcrowded" which might have contributed to prisoners' deaths in custody.

General Sir David Ramsbotham, the prisons' watchdog, was speaking after the release of new figures showing a marked rise in incidents of prisoners taking their own lives in jail.

In 1990 there were 50 'self inflicted deaths' in UK jails while in 1999 this figure had risen to 91.

At Armley, where there were seven self-inflicted deaths between January 1999 and April this year, bereaved families of Bradford men who have died are campaigning for changes in the prison regime to avoid further tragedies. And they say their campaign has been given a boost by Sir David's comments.

Pointing out that Leeds prison is certified to hold 770 inmates but regularly houses more than 1,200, Sir David said: "That is a hideous level of overcrowding. Prisoners are left locked up for far too many hours of the day, doing absolutely nothing.

"Staff who have so many prisoners to look after are unable to observe individuals, to notice when there's some change in mood or some problem which might put an inmate at risk."

Ruth Bundey, the solicitor acting for the families of Bradford victims Anthony Madden and Anthony Forrest, said the families were pleased that their protests seemed to have been acknowledged by the prisons' watchdog.

"Fingers crossed there will be improvements. Let's hope there are going to be more safeguards."

Today, Chris Walker, one of the governors at the prison, said it was true the prison was overcrowded and there was nothing prison bosses could do about it.

They could only turn away prisoners when numbers in custody reached 1,254, the top limit.

"This means we have very little flexibility in how we deal with prisoners, and we have to have two prisoners in just about every cell in the prison," Mr Walker said. "We have taken steps in recent times to increase the activities available to the prisoners, and are revising the regime now to make activities available for longer hours."

Sir David is due to visit Armley with a team of officials next week for a full inspection, with the report likely to be published next year.