Prison break - with a difference

File photo / Thinkstock

Most people break out of prisons, rather than break into them, but a team of burglars in England have done just that overnight.

The thieves broken into the grounds of HMP Sudbury prison in Derbyshire and made off with equipment authorities describe as "valuable".

The thieves broke in through the perimeter fence before forcing open the door of a workshop, a spokesman for Derbyshire Police said.

It appears they managed to make a hole in the fence before stealing metalwork tools used by inmates at the open prison from one of the outbuildings in the grounds, he said.

Built as a hospital for the US Air Force for the D-Day landings, HMP Sudbury was converted to a prison in 1948 and currently houses 581 inmates.

- AAP