POLICE ARE investigating allegations of brutality by staff at two more prisons as the head of the prison service warns officers that he will not tolerate the abuse of prisoners. The new police inquiries follow a year-long criminal investigation into allegations of beatings and racism at Wormwood Scrubs in London. Accusations have already been made against 43 officers, and 15 have been suspended by the Prison Service. A decision by the Crown Prosecution Service on whether to bring criminal charges is expected later this month. The new allegations of brutality involve officers working at Wandsworth prison in south London, and at one of the Prison Service's six high-security dispersal prisons. The Metropolitan Police are investigating claims by two prisoners that they were assaulted by prison officers at Wandsworth.Daniel Machover, a solicitor with the London firm Hickman and Rose, said: "This firm has received allegations of brutality by prison officers against prisoners at a number of other prisons."Last week Martin Narey, the new director-general of the Prison Service, while stressing that he was not referring to the officers currently accused and suspended, told the Prison Officers' Association conference in Southport, Merseyside, that a "tiny handful" of officers were causing "irreparable damage" to the profession.

He said: "They do not treat prisoners and visitors with dignity Sometimes they abuse prisoners. However small their number they do irreparable damage to your profession. There is no place for them in our service."A senior prison governor is conducting an internal Prison Service inquiry into the brutality allegations. This inquiry, which could lead to disciplinary action against officers found to have behaved improperly, requires only a "balance of probabilities" standard of proof.But Mr Machover said he was unhappy at the way management in prisons had responded to allegations of brutality. He also complained that many prison officers were not complying with a new requirement for them to wear name tags, making it harder to identify those responsible for any wrong-doing.Management at Wormwood Scrubs is bracing itself for what is believed to be a highly critical report on the jail, due to be published later this month by Sir David Ramsbotham, the chief inspector of prisons, after he conducted a snap inspection in March.Among the prisoners and former inmates of the west London prison who have made allegations of brutality is Raphael Rowe, a member of the M25 Three, jailed for life in 1990 for a series of violent robberies carried out close to London's orbital mortorway.

Mr Rowe is one of about 50 prisoners who are seeking damages from the Home Office after claiming they were assaulted by officers in the jail.Mr Rowe alleges he was attacked in the segregation unit in 1993. His barrister, Michael Mansfield, saw his injuries the next day and complained directly to the prison authorities. The Prison Service is contesting the claims.Mr Rowe, who was convicted with two other men, has always protested his innocence His case was referred to the Court of Appeal in April.. A BRITISH songbird that was once almost extinct is making a comeback, thanks to global warming. The Dartford warbler (Sylvia undata) unlike most other members of its family, is a year-round UK resident, but suffers in cold weather.

Severe winters in the early 1960s cut the national breeding population to just 11 pairs. However, there are now believed to be about 2,000 pairs, and they may soon recolonise areas not occupied since the 1930s. "It's turning into a most heartening success story," said Robin Hynde, policy officer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. "The population is probably higher now than for a very long time, owing to a combination of good habitat management on a number of nature reserves and the fact we haven't had any really severe winters since the early 1980s."Future severe winters may result in reductions, but one hope is that habitat management will boost their survival chances and provide potential for fast recoveries."In 1974, the number of pairs had increased to 565 but after severe winters in the late 1970s and early 1980s the total had fallen to 423 by 1984. However, when the survey was repeated in 1994, the population had risen to more than 1,600.Dartford warblers are dark grey, with pinkish-brown underparts, and distinctive, often cocked tails, which account for half their five-inch length.Most are found in Mediterranean regions, with up to one million pairs in France. In England, their most northerly outpost, they skulk among gorse clumps."We have seen a consolidation in their core areas - Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex and Surrey - and signs of northward expansion into Berkshire, where the species ceased nesting in the 1940s, and Suffolk where they disappeared in the 1930s," said Mr Hynde.Earlier this year there was even a sighting on a heathland nature reserve at Heswall on the Wirral.There are hopes that the population will return to 19th- century levels, when birds nested from Cornwall to Kent, with isolated colonies as far north as Shropshire and Staffordshire.The species was first identified in Kent in 1787. A scheme to recreate heathland at Tudeley Woods, near Tonbridge, could eventually bring it back to within 20 miles of the place after which it was named.Mr Hynde said the warblers were benefiting from heathland conservation on RSPB reserves at Arne, Dorset, and Aylesbeare Common, Devon, and at sanctuaries under the care of various wildlife trusts and English Nature."This is a habitat important to other birds, such as nightjars and woodlarks, as well as reptiles like smooth snake and sand lizard and a range of plants, so there are widespread benefits."The Government has set a target to re-establish 14,000 acres of heathland.. MALE OFFICE workers who downloaded pornography from the Internet have fallen victim to a whole range of new offences under cyber law.