THREE prisoners climbed on the roof of Dartmoor Jail on Tuesday and mounted a protest which lasted almost 12 hours. Specially trained negotiators were called in to coax the men down from the roof after the prisoners climbed up the drainpipes at 9am. One came down in the afternoon and the remaining two, who had a canvas shelter and provisions with them, climbed down around 8pm. The Ministry of Justice confirmed no-one had been injured in the incident. Don Wood from the Prison Officers' Association said the incident was controlled at all times and no assistance was needed from the police. 'Staff had secured an area so the prisoners were contained and could not get to any higher places — they were not going anywhere,' he said. HMP Dartmoor is a category C prison with 640 inmates. They are considered to be prisoners who cannot be trusted in open conditions but are unlikely to escape. Although the prison has declined to comment on the incident, Mr Wood said it was possible the prisoners had protested because they wanted to transfer to a prison nearer home. Mr Wood, a POA national executive member, said in the days when Dartmoor was a Category B prison it was very rare an incident like this would happen. He said: 'Dartmoor is now under a Category C prison regime which is very much more relaxed. 'The prisoners have more freedom and within the prison the gates are open and the prisoners go to work.' Mr Wood said he would be making representations to the prison service to get the prisoners transferred. 'I would certainly say if they have the wherewithal to get up onto the roof they should not be in a category C prison.' The POA member said he believed at Channings Wood and Dartmoor Prison, in particular, people were being made category C prisoners too quickly without being properly assessed. Last week prison officers passed a vote of no confidence in the governor Serena Watts. They said they were unhappy about the way she has been running the prison and communicating with the workforce. West Devon MP Geoffrey Cox said he believed overcrowding was key to the problems at Dartmoor Prison: 'Dartmoor is being crammed to the gunnels, like all of Britain's jails, and prisoners are being shipped from further distances which is unsettling them. 'The real worry to me is that the resettlement unit at Dartmoor has done some really excellent work and that is being totally disrupted by this problem of overcrowding.'