The Prison Service of England and Wales has banned inmates from playing games rated 18 by the BBFC, according to a report on BBC News Friday.

The Prison Service has also ended its policy of purchasing video games for inmates. According to the report, purchases of PlayStation and Xboxes last year levied a £10,000 burden to taxpayers.

Video games that inmates purchase themselves will still be allowed within prisons as part of the Incentives and Earned Privileges program, which provides additional benefits to prisoners "who are demonstrably well-behaved, who commit to their sentence plan and fully comply with the prison regime," according to the Prison Service. Prisoners who are considered vulnerable to suicide will also be allowed to have video games to occupy themselves during the risk period.

"I don"t think anyone would have a great problem with incorporating these into a good behaviour programme, but we should not forget the usefulness of these games to prison officers and governors keeping order in overcrowded prisons," said the deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust Geoff Dobson. "But the bottom line is access to computer games is no substitute for purposeful activity like work or education classes.” Dobson says that overcrowding has led to cutbacks in such activities in the prison system.

All games rated 18 that are currently in prisons will be removed by the end of September. The ban on government purchases of video games for inmates is already in effect.