is now complete and in the hands of Prison Commissioner Mr. Edward Dyer.

But Mr. Dyer, who received the report yesterday, remained tight-lipped as to what it contained.

He also refused to elaborate on reports that a prisoner had returned a missing key which disappeared during an uprising among maximum security prisoners at Westgate two weeks ago.

Mr. Dyer would only confirm that the key did disappear while maximum security prisoners barricaded themselves into their unit and damaged prison equipment.

He admitted that the key was normally in the possession of prison officers.

But he replied, "no comment'' when asked who returned the key. He also refused to say when it was returned or how it came to disappear.

"Officers are working on it today,'' he said.

Mr. Dyer also claimed he had not heard of a sit-in by irate prison officers, angry that Mr. Dyer appeared to be pointing the finger at prison staff for the disappearance of the key.

Prison Officers Association spokesman and vice-chairman Mr. Clarence Davis could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Police say they were never informed of the disturbance and that the Prison Service had opted to handle the situation internally. The report is the culmination of a two-week investigation into the prisoner rebellion, sparked off by a decision to refuse a prisoner permission to attend his father's funeral.

Last week former Health and Social Services Minister admitted he was "disappointed'' that prison officials only informed him four days after the event.