A MAN known as Britain's most dangerous prisoner has been given almost £200 compensation by the Prison Service after his spectacles were broken.

Charles Bronson's glasses were damaged during an incident involving two members of staff at Full Sutton high-security prison, Yorkshire.

A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "A prisoner has been offered compensation of under £200 after a control and restraint incident."

Since first being jailed for armed robbery in 1974, Bronson has held fellow prisoners and prison staff hostage on three occasions and carried out at least 20 assaults on guards and inmates.

At Broadmoor in 1983 he staged a 47-hour rooftop protest, causing £750,000 damage.

And in 1994, while holding a guard hostage at Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, he demanded an inflatable doll, a helicopter and a cup of tea as ransom, leading one staff member to describe him as "a 24-carat nutter".

Two months later, he held deputy governor Adrian Wallace hostage for five hours at Hull Prison, injuring him so badly he was off work for five weeks.

Bronson, 45 and originally from Luton, Bedfordshire, is certified insane and has been held at all three of Britain's special hospitals, and at least 28 conventional prisons.