Justice Secretary calls for a ban on sale of tiny 'HMP phones' designed to be smuggled into jails INTERNALLY

Inmates smuggle phones into prison and use them to run their criminal empires
The tiny phones can be bought freely on the internet and evade prison scanners
The Justice Secretary David Lidington has called for their sale to be banned
Comes as British entrepreneur claims to have invented world's smallest mobile

Published: 16:34 GMT, 17 December 2017 | Updated: 01:14 GMT, 18 December 2017

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The Justice Secretary has called for a ban on the sale of tiny mobile phones designed to flout prison security measures.

David Lidington wants online retailers to stop selling the gadgets, which are no bigger than a cigarette lighter, over fears they enable inmates to orchestrate major criminal operations from behind bars.

Officials say the mini phones are freely available on the internet and are designed to go undetected by body orifice security scanners that are in place in jails around England and Wales.

The justice secretary has called for the sale of tiny mobile phones to be banned. British entrepreneur Shazad Talib has claimed to have invented the world's smallest mobile phone

Mr Talib's Zanco Tiny T1 (pictured), which weighs in at just 13 grams, has a 0.49 inch OLED screen with a resolution of 64 x 12 pixels and can store 300 phone contacts

For as little as £25 prisoners and organised crime gangs can purchase and smuggle the phones into prisons, where they can sell for up to £500, the Ministry of Justice warned.

In a speech on Monday, Mr Lidington will say: 'It's pretty clear that these miniature phones are being advertised and sold with the purpose of being smuggled.

'That's why today, I am calling on online retailers and trading websites to take down products that are advertised to evade detection measures in prisons.'

The justice secretary's call comes as a British entrepreneur says he has invented the world's smallest mobile phone.

Shazad Talib created the Zanco Tiny T1, which weighs in at just 13 grams, has a 0.49 inch OLED screen with a resolution of 64 x 12 pixels and can store 300 phone contacts.

The Bradford-born businessman has setup a Kickstarter funding page to get his idea off the ground and there is no suggestion he is intending for the gadget to be used in prisons.

He said: 'I came up with the idea for it in about 2004, and I've had engineers working on it for years. It is actually very easy to use when it is placed on your finger.'

It will retail at £39 - although on the Kickstarter funding page investors can secure one for a 'super early bird' price of £30.

The phones are tiny and often designed to avoid detection by body orifice security scanners that are in place in jails around England and Wales

The Zanco phone can be bought for as little as £30. Mobile phones have emerged as a major security challenge for prisons

Mobile phones have emerged as a major security challenge for prisons, where they help facilitate more crime and are used to intimidate victims from behind bars.

Last year, prison officers recovered more than 13,000 mobile phones and sim cards.

The ministry is working with mobile network operators on technology to block phone signals, while £2 million has been invested on hand-held and portable detection equipment for jail staff.

In his speech, Mr Lidington will add: 'Tackling the availability of drugs and mobile phones is as much about targeting the gangs and supply chains that operate beyond the prison walls as it is about detecting and managing them once they arrive inside the prison walls.

'Detection and seizure should be our last line of defence. Our first line of defence is taking the fight to the criminal gangs.

'That is why we have been boosting our intelligence-led operations: police officers are now working alongside prison officers to expose the criminal gangs, stop them in their tracks and bring them to justice.'