A British prisoner is among five inmates who’ve escaped from a high-security jail in Portugal.

A search is continuous for Mark Cameron Roscaleer and 4 different prisoners after they broke out of the Vale de Judeus jail about 43 miles (70km) north of the capital Lisbon on Saturday.

They escaped by scaling the wall with a ladder and had “exterior assist”, the Portuguese jail service mentioned, in accordance to Reuters information company.

Roscaleer is serving a nine-year jail sentence for kidnap and theft, Portuguese media report.

Vale de Judeus is a high-security jail with a capability of 560 inmates, in accordance to its web site.

The jail service mentioned the escape occurred on Saturday morning, at 10:00 native time (09:00 GMT).

As nicely as Roscaleer, the five inmates included two Portuguese males, an Argentinian and a Georgian, Portuguese media say.

The two Portuguese escapees had been serving 25-year sentences for offences together with drug trafficking, legal affiliation, theft, theft and kidnapping, Portugal’s jail service instructed Reuters.

The different three had been convicted of offences reminiscent of theft, kidnapping and theft.

Portugal’s nationwide union for jail guards – the Sindicato Nacional do Corpo da Guarda Prisional (SNCGP) – shared mugshots of the five on social media.

Frederico Morais, the pinnacle of SNCGP, told Portugal’s SIC Noticias news channel that the inmates had been extraordinarily harmful and the general public mustn’t method them.

Mr Morais additionally mentioned the escape occurred due to a scarcity of jail guards, which meant the surveillance towers weren’t manned, the Portuguese news site Diario de Noticias reported.

The jail service mentioned the boys escaped “with exterior assist by way of the launch of a ladder, which allowed the inmates to scale the wall and entry the skin”.

Portuguese police have reportedly requested for worldwide cooperation to seize the five inmates.

The BBC has contacted the UK Foreign Office.