A former prisoner caught up in last month's Lincoln jail riot says the vulnerable prisoner unit was targeted by ringleaders of the disturbance.

Mark Wales, 29, was serving 13 months for dangerous driving and being held in the prison's E wing, where inmates are segregated from the main wings.

He said it was too easy for the troublemakers to gain access to protected prisoners.

The prison declined to comment on the claims because an official investigation into the riot is underway.

Photo of sons

"I was scared to death", said Mr Wales.

"I thought straight away of the Strangeways riots in 1990 and I was scared.

"I looked at a photo of my two sons and was thinking I'm never going to see them again."

The riot started just before 2000 BST on 23 October when a small group of inmates attacked a prison guard, beating him over the head with his own truncheon and locking him in a cell.

Drug overdose

The prisoners stole the officer's keys and unlocked more than 150 cells, before setting fire to three parts of the jail and smashing windows.

After the riot a spokesman for the Prison Officers' Association said the damage to the Victorian jail was likely to reach £2m.

Three prison officers were injured in the riot and 24 prisoners were taken to hospital, mainly suffering the effects of drugs.

One prisoner, Lee Blake, 37, of Scunthorpe, later died from a drugs overdose.