THIS is the shocking moment inmates at Winchester Prison broke out of their cells using cutlery.

Nineteen prisoners ran riot at the Hampshire-based jail after using utensils from the kitchen to scape holes in the walls of their cells.

Footage shows the criminals laughing with glee after managing to break free. 

The lawless individuals went on a rampage smashing items, throwing bricks and even donned prison officers clothing. One individual was even seen waving an officer's baton. Another let off a fire hose and sprayed it around the wing.

How the prison was able to descend into such chaos remains unclear. 

Basingstoke Gazette: Lawless: Thugs were seen donning masks as the prison descended into chaosLawless: Thugs were seen donning masks as the prison descended into chaos

It took an anti-riot squad to storm the historic Victorian jailhouse before order was restored. 

The video was shot by inmates inside their cell and they can be heard laughing at the behaviour of other prisoners.

Cody Lachey, a former prisoner now prison reform campaigner, who released the footage on his YouTube channel, criticised Winchester which date from the mid-19th century.

He said the incident stemmed from the poor conditions. "Prisoners are housed in certain Victorian prisons than are rife with cockroaches, mice and even rats and the 'Criminal justice system' is as broken as the prisoners entering it and leaving it, those Victorian prisons are more reminiscent of Dickensian Britain than than 21st century Britain.

Basingstoke Gazette: Out break: Inmates used cutlery to break out of cells Out break: Inmates used cutlery to break out of cells

"The Victorian prisons are dilapidated, decrepit and not fit for animals never mind prisoners that the Ministry of Justice are trying to 'rehabilitate', Prisoners will seek to go after weakness, whether that be in another prisoner, a prison officer, lapses in security or, in this case, the walls housing them.

"Prisons should be places of decency with humane conditions with purposeful activity based solely on 'rehabilitation' but the Mo is obsessed with opening new prisons and creating more prison places when the prisons we have are crumbling and falling down."

Winchester was placed in special measures in early 2018 because of concerns at staffing and the conditions.

Since the incident some 150 inmates have been transferred to other jails to allow surveyors to inspect and assess the damage.