A prisoner is on the run from HMP Wandsworth after escaping from jail.

Police with sniffer dogs are said to be searching for the unnamed inmate, who escaped after a court appearance.

It is believed he escaped at around 9pm on Monday, February 11.

An Ministry of Justice spokeswoman confirmed they were looking for an "unaccounted for" prisoner who went missing from inside the prison grounds.

A prison source, who asked not to be named, said the jail had been placed in lockdown following the escape.

Speaking on Tuesday, he said: "No one is able to leave the prison.

"The guards have told everyone that they are to remain in their cells after someone fled the prison last night."

HMP Wandsworth is a category B prison and currently holds around 1,900 inmates.

A criminal lawyer using the handle @ephemeral90 tweeted: "Get up really early to go to HMP Wandsworth and am told all legals are cancelled due to an incident."

A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "A prisoner is currently unaccounted for at HMP Wandsworth following attendance at court.

"We are working closely with the police and are urgently investigating the matter. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."

She added the man was in court in relation to an alleged theft, but refused to say which court he had been at or confirm when he went missing.

The last prisoner to escape Wandsworth was Neil Moore who was on remand when he used an illicit mobile phone to create a fake email account.

Moore posed as a senior court clerk and sent bail instructions to prison staff, who released him on March 10, 2014.

However, his deception was uncovered after solicitors went to interview him a few days later only to find him gone.

The most high-profile escape was Ronnie Biggs who fled the prison on July 8, 1965, whilst serving a 30-year sentence for his part in the Great Train Robbery.

Two years later he fled to Brazil and remained on the run until 2001, when he returned to the UK.