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Campaigners have raised concerns over the detention of young offenders in secure training centres after figures showed a rise in self-harm incidents, writes Maria Ahmed.

Medway recorded the highest number of self-harm incidents in STCs last year, with 219 compared to just 49 in 2001, according to a parliamentary written answer.

Hassockfield STC recorded 138 self-harm incidents in 2004, compared to 70 at Rainsbrook STC and 29 at Oakhill STC, which opened in August last year.

Enver Solomon, head of policy and research at charity Revolving Doors, said the figures showed the centres were “failing to provide vulnerable young people with the support they need”.

Private companies GSL UK, which runs Medway and Rainsbrook, and Serco, which runs Hassockfield, said the high figures were a result of a more detailed recording system brought in last year.

Medway and Hassockfield each dismissed four staff from 2003 to this year, including one case where a member of staff failed to complete suicide and self-harm watches.

This was compared to one dismissal at Rainsbrook in 2003 and one at Oakhill this year.

• The Home Office will extend the duty of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman to investigate deaths in secure training centres, as part of a new bill in the autumn.