From spice to The Sopranos: The items smuggled to prisons on drones as new law is announced

It has been a recurring problem for prison officers over a decade. Drugs, mobile phones and even TV boxsets are among the items that have been carried into Greater Manchester's prisons using drones over recent years.

It's been a common issue since drones became more widely available to the public. But ministers are hoping a change in the law could change that.

New legislation means it will soon be an offence to fly drones within 400 metres of any closed prison or young offender institution in England and Wales. From January 25 next year, drone operators who break the rules could be fined up to £2,500, while those found smuggling illicit items will face up to 10 years in prison.

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Prisons Minister Damian Hinds said: "This is the latest step in the war we are winning to stop drugs, weapons and phones getting into our prisons. These virtual ‘no-fly’ zones - along with our new airport-style X-ray scanners - mean we can clamp down better than ever on violence behind bars to keep both prisoners and staff safe from harm."

Following the death of an inmate at Forest Bank Prison, in Salford, one of the privately-run jail's top bosses described how criminals 'will try every way imaginable to get illicit substances in'. Marie Durning, head of security and operations at Forest Bank, says this includes drones which fly packages direct to cell windows.

"A lot of prisoners have committed crimes around substance misuse so there is a need and demand for people to keep supplying these substances," she said. Sodexo, which runs Forest Bank, was forced to install new