The mother of a young woman who died in custody joined a protest against "unsafe" conditions at Durham Prison women's unit last week.
Pauline Campbell, whose 18-year-old daughter, Sarah, died at Styal Prison in 2003, was protesting after the death on 21 August of Durham inmate Louise Giles, apparently by suicide.
Last year, the chief inspector of prisons, Anne Owers, said Durham was "unsuitable" for holding women and recommended its closure. This week, she called for inmates to be removed as a "matter of urgency" after an unannounced inspection found that conditions for the remaining six women had deteriorated.
According to the inspection report, four of the women had been involved in nearly one-third of the self-harm incidents in the entire prison from March to May this year, and also accounted for seven out of 15 suicide attempts in which prisoners had nearly died.
Phil Wheatley, director general of the Prison Service, said the women's unit would close by the end of this month.
