Drugs, deaths and overcrowding have plagued the reputation of HMP Wandsworth for years.

Inquests have been halted as a coroner asked why so many men were dying inside the Victorian prison, officers jailed for smuggling drugs in and it regularly features in the top five of Britain's most overcrowded prison, running at close to double its official capacity.

The man in charge, Ian Bickers, has new powers as his prison was named as a trailblazer site in the Queen's Speech in May.

June 21: Education reform is personal commitment for HMP Wandsworth's top boss in 'trailblazer' prison

June 16: Inside HMP Wandsworth: our reporter's look behind bars at life in Britain's biggest prison

His prison is an autonomous site within a larger, national scene, with its own control over budget and policy.

Mr Bickers is under no illusion of the challenges the prison still faces.

Video footage shot by the BBC showed prisoners smoking cannabis openly and drones flying drugs into the cells.

He said: "I can go around on a daily basis and not see anyone smoking.

"People should not be surprised there are drugs in prison, it has always been a problem and it always will be.

"Reform means I can tackle this in a different way.

"We will put more money into tackling corruption.

"In some countries, eagles are being trained to grab hold of drones, there is a lot of interesting work going on."

June 14: 'We are responsible for our own destiny': HMP Wandsworth governor talks recruitment and budgets as trailblazer prison is given autonomy

May 18: Wandsworth and High Down prisons first in line for changes as "biggest shake-up" of prison system is announced in Queen's Speech

Cells in the Victorian prison in Healthfield Road are regularly shared, with two men bunking in single beds.

The Howard League estimates overcrowding in the prison to be 169 per cent, but Mr Bickers argues that for the prisoners, it is just normal life.

He said: "I worked in the prison service at the back end of people being tripled up in cells.

"It is normal for us and for our men. If you ask 'would anyone prefer to be in a double or a single?' some would prefer the double because they like the company.

"The point being, you have a criminal justice system that delivers what it does and a capacity of 87,000.

"As a society we have decided to lock people up for longer and for other things they have done wrong, so people will share cells."

The prison is designed for 943 inmates, with one man to a cell, but there are about 1,600 men in HMP Wandsworth at the moment.

In the last year, two men have taken their own lives in Wandsworth prison, the most recent one at the end of May.

Another death by medical causes takes the fatality rate to three in 12 months, an improvement on 10 in two years between 2013-15.

When Mr Bickers speaks about death in prison, he is almost overcome by emotion.

He said: "Since we put in a predictable regime, everyone gets something everyday, a phone call or exercise.

"Some days it doesn't happen because of staff shortages, but we have stabilised the regime.

"There was only one person in charge of safety in prisons. It is not just about keeping people alive but about reducing violence.

"We worked really hard to make safety a priority."

Mr Bickers has had prisoners trained up to be listeners, so others can speak to them when they are in crisis and invested in spaces outside of cells for those talks.

He said: "I think the results speak for themselves.

"The cases I have been involved with, you would have no idea the men wanted to take their lives.

"Every time somebody dies, you feel it.

"I am responsible for their care. When somebody dies, it properly hurts."