Reform groups have warned that women's prisons in the UK were being used as "dumping grounds for some of the most vulnerable people in society" following the death of the second female prisoner in as many days.

The Prison Service confirmed Marie Lucy Walsh, 29, was found hanged in her cell at New Hall prison, near Wakefield, at 6.10pm yesterday.

Ms Walsh, from the South Wales area, was on remand for theft from Derby Magistrates' Court and had been in the prison for two weeks, a spokesman said.

Healthcare staff and paramedics attempted resuscitation but she was pronounced dead at 7.04pm

She was alone in a double cell and was not on suicide watch.

Ms Walsh was the 11th woman to be found dead in a prison cell in England and Wales so far this year and her death follows that of Rebecca Louise Turner at Low Newton prison, Co. Durham, on Wednesday.

The Prison Service spokesman said: "Every death in custody is a tragedy. We offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ms Walsh."

But the campaign group INQUEST, which works with families of people who die in custody, said the deaths were "shocking".

Co-director Deborah Coles said: "For two women to be found dead within 36 hours is utterly shocking and defies belief.

"This shameful and relentless death toll exposes a crisis in women's prisons and the numbers of women being sent to prisons that cannot protect their right to life.

"These deaths are an indictment of the criminal justice system that uses prison as a dumping ground for some of the most vulnerable people in society, and raises serious concerns about the systemic failings of the Prison Service and their ability to keep women in custody safe."

Ms Coles said "lessons are clearly not being learned" and warned that unless an investment was made in community-based alternatives to prison "more women will continue to die and self harm until urgent action is taken".

Director of the Prison Reform Trust Juliet Lyon said: "Urgent action is needed to address the rising number of deaths of women in custody.

"It is not enough to enable hard-pressed prison staff to respond to women in extreme distress or to try to turn prisons into hospitals or centres for drug treatment.

In total, 55 people have been found dead in prisons so far this year, compared with 57 at this point last year.