A FORMER chaplain at Winchester Prison has lifted the lid on alleged bullying, secrecy and rock-bottom morale at the stricken jail.

"Appalling" management and declining pastoral support is partly to blame for a recent crisis of deaths in custody, Rev Graham Topping has told the Chronicle.

Staff are being "walked on" by senior managers and losing their ability to support inmates, he said, echoing warnings made by another source in the Chronicle last month.

The Prison Service has branded the claims "completely untrue".

Rev Topping, who served at the prison for more than a decade as a chaplain, probation officer and resettlement officer, said morale is the lowest he has ever seen.

"How many more people have got to die in that prison before someone does something about the morale?" he said. "The governor can't see it - he thinks it's wonderful.

"There are fantastic officers in that prison - very, very committed officers - but they're just walked on, really."

Five prisoners have died in custody at the prison since July and two senior officers have left in the last month without a job to go to.

It follows two damning reports which highlighted overstretched staff and unsafe conditions. Last year the Independent Monitoring Board said gang culture was flourishing and violence was on the rise.

Rev Topping cited the sacking of two Salvation Army support workers and the dissolution of a staff consultation board as key blows to morale since David Rogers took over as governor in 2012.

"He came to the first meeting of the staff consultation committee, and the next thing he did was to disband it and everything linked to it," Rev Topping said.

"He was the boss, he was in control, he wanted to know everything."

Rev Topping is a Rotarian, trustee at Winchester Basics Bank and former chair of governors at Henry Beaufort School. He left the prison in January after 11 years at the jail.

He was not required during that time to sign the Official Secrets Act, which prevents most staff from whistleblowing.

On seeing an article in the Chronicle last month reporting a "them-and-us situation" between staff and senior management, a "furious" Mr Rodgers called a whole staff meeting to track down the whistleblower, a prison source said.

And Rev Topping says he was disciplined for raising his concerns with the government through local politicians.

"I was accused of bringing the prison into disrepute and was told I wasn't to speak to anybody else about the prison again," he said. "I was gagged."

A Prison Service spokesman said: “These allegations are completely untrue. A recent inspection report at HMP Winchester found that the governor continues to offer strong leadership despite a challenging prison population.

“The governor and his senior team are and always have been visible within the prison, ready to listen and talk to staff or prisoners about matters concerning them.

“The staff at Winchester are dedicated and hard-working. Additionally, a number of new prison officers have been recruited to increase the number of staff at the prison.”