Police officers increasingly fear being beheaded by Islamist terrorist in some of Britain's most violent jails.

Concerns have skyrocketed after three prison officers were brutally attacked at HMP Frankland in County Durham last week.

Three officers sustained life-threatening injuries from the attack launched by one of the Manchester Arena bombers Hashem Abedi - who has been jailed for life.

Among the prison's regular inmates, the jail houses some of Britain's most extreme terrorists.

PA

The convicts are permitted access to a kitchen where Abedi sourced oil and was able to craft two blades out of a baking tray before he covered the officers in sizzling oil and stabbed them.

Ex-prison officer Neil Samworth said that the management method was "madness".

"The fact that Abedi had access to all the kitchen facilities is hard to comprehend, but typical of the way prisons are run today," he told the Daily Mail.

"The staff are not safe on these wings."

Around 20 officers are employed at HMP Frankland and HMP Full Sutton, which is located in Yorkshire.

Some £1.2million went towards finding the "most charismatic" jihadists to be imprisoned at these secure sites, where each prisoner's cost comes to around £44,640 each year.

At Frankland, prisoners can engage with each other, although they do not have further access to the outside population.

Known inmates at the site include murderers Wayne Couzens, Ian Huntley and Levi Bellfield.

PA