A prisoner was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack at a prison late last night.

The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was scrambled to HMP Verne last night at around 11pm as a man was suffering from a cardiac arrest.

He was then taken to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester by land ambulance to receive further treatment.

A spokesperson for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance said: “I can confirm that Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance attended an incident in Portland yesterday evening which was reported as an adult male in cardiac arrest. The patient was escorted by the air ambulance critical care team in a land ambulance to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester.  

“The team we provided consisted of a doctor and specialist practitioner in critical care, both of whom specialise in pre-hospital emergency medicine. The aircraft was crewed as usual, by a pilot and co-pilot.”

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: “We were called at 10.52pm on Monday July 15 to an incident in Portland.

“We sent an air ambulance and two double-crewed land ambulances to the scene and conveyed one patient by land ambulance to Dorset County Hospital.”

The Verne is a Category C men’s prison on Portland for those convicted of a sex offence.

A prison service spokesperson said: “A prisoner at HMP The Verne was taken to hospital on Monday evening following a medical emergency.”