A year-old immigration removal centre has been slammed by inspectors as "fundamentally unsafe" with "serious" problems, including bullying, violence and drugs, according to a report.
Brook House at Gatwick airport opened in March last year and holds around 400 men, most of whom are awaiting removal from the UK.
But inspectors said challenges posed by opening a new centre and dealing with ex-prisoners and difficult detainees were no excuse for the problems identified during the inspection in March.
Dame Anne Owers, chief inspector of prisons, said: "New custodial establishments frequently experience early difficulties as staff and detainees get used to their new surroundings and each other.
"However, by the time of this first full announced inspection, a year after the centre opened, managers could be expected to have resolved teething problems.
"Instead, we were disturbed to find one of the least safe immigration detention facilities we have inspected, with deeply frustrated detainees and demoralised staff, some of whom lacked the necessary confidence to manage those in their care."
The inspectors found only a third of detainees said they felt safe on their first night.
The centre was designed on the assumption men would stay for only a day or two, but the reality was many stayed for weeks or months, according to the report.
Inspectors highlighted insufficient activity and education provision to occupy detainees, 11 of whom had been in the centre for more than 10 months.
Staff felt "embattled" and lacked the confidence to deal with bad behaviour by detainees and the use of force was high, the report found.
