The prison service has denied reports that young people have been kept naked in solitary confinement cells at Huntercombe Young Offenders' Institution near Wallingford.

A spokesman confirmed that special cells were used for disruptive prisoners -- but only for very short periods.

Both he and Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said reports in a Sunday newspaper that prisoners were kept naked there and without sanitation were not correct.

The spokesman at HM Prison Service HQ in London, said the press reports were "mis- leading".

The report said Huntercombe topped the list of institutions using the special cells where prisoners were kept in solitary confinement naked and without light, ventilation, sanitation or furniture. It said the cells --- described by reformers as barbaric -- were used 152 times nationally last year, including 46 times at Huntercombe.

The Howard League wants an independent inquiry by people from the League, children's charities and lawyers.

The Home Office, which oversees the prison service, released the figures, showing the cells have been used systematically, but this week, said they are used only in extreme circumstances for segregation and not punishment.

The Home Office spokesman said: "We gave information to Parliament about their use but never said young people were kept in those cells naked as press reports allege."

A prison service spokesman said: "The special cells are there for violent prisoners who need to be segregated. They are without furniture because we do not want prisoners harming themselves but no-one is kept in them naked. At Huntercombe no-one has been confined in the special cells for more than 24 hours."

Ms Crook said: "Newspaper reports that they are kept naked are misleading -- they are stripped and then put into rip-proof clothing. In the cells there is a ledge and a bucket -- no other furniture, no light and no ventilation."