Children held at a youth prison are being treated with such brutality they should be removed and placed in foster care for their own protection, a report to be published by the Chief Inspector of Prisons this week will warn.

Inspectors who visited Onley Young Offenders Institution in Warwickshire found the level of bullying and assaults so disturbing they have recommended applying for 'emergency protection orders' for several teenage inmates intimidated by staff or other prisoners.

The report is so critical of the prison management that the Home Office has sat on it for nine months. Described by a source close to the inspectorate as the worst they had ever seen, it says trust and respect had completely broken down and Onley is 'a long way from being a safe place for young people'.

It states: 'The level of assaults was very disturbing and the use of control and restraint techniques alarmingly frequent. We received a high number of complaints from young prisoners that they felt intimidated by staff.'

The Howard League for Penal Reform, whose staff have been refused entry to Onley, will release a statement this week calling for children to be 'rescued' and placed in care. Last month the prison charity took the Home Office to court for failing to apply the protection of the Children Act to prison inmates. It is now believed that Onley could be used as a test case to force the Prison Service to act.

Dr Rudi Vis, Labour MP for Finchley and Golders Green, who has tabled a series of questions on conditions in youth prisons, said: 'Much more needs to be done to ensure that these children are safe, which is by no means certain at the moment.