POLICE are investigating claims by a Bromsgrove man that he was assaulted by a prison officer while in custody.

Peter Marenholz, of Stoney Hill Close, was completing the last six weeks of a sentence for attempted arson at Forest Bank prison in Manchester, after serving the majority of his time at Blakenhurst in Redditch.

Marenholz claims that after he had thrown his food over a balcony outside his cell in protest at being moved, he was assaulted by an officer, suffering severe face and neck bruising.

"I was supposed to be well looked after in there, but they moved me to Manchester," he said.

"I threw my dinner away in protest. Some of it may have spilt elsewhere, but I didn't aim to throw it at any of them."

The former postman said the ordeal had been a great strain on him and his wife Lynda.

"I didn't want my wife to have to come to Manchester to visit me, but it was our 30th wedding anniversary," he said. A spokesman for Greater Manchester police confirmed in a statement that an incident at the prison was being investigated.

"On Friday, August 11, police in Manchester received a report that a former prisoner at Forest Bank prison in Salford had been assaulted by a prison officer while in custody.

"The alleged incident was reported to have happened on Wednesday, July 2.

"This report is being investigated and inquiries into the circumstances around the incident are ongoing."

UKDS, which operates Forest Bank prison, did not wish to comment on the matter.