A breakout from a Brisbane jail in Queensland, Australia was thwarted when officers found a 5m platted rope made from bed sheets hidden in a laundry yesterday. Last night prison authorities would not comment on how prisoners were able to access several sheets and have time to put the rope together without being detected.

Chilli powder - which prison authorities said could be used as a weapon against officers or to throw dogs off a scent - was found hidden with the bed sheets in a pillow case. The prison was immediately locked down at 7.30am and officers conducted a head count, but no one was missing.

Police last night were still interviewing 40 prisoners who had access to the medium-security D3 section of the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre, in Brisbane's western outskirts. Queensland Prison Officer Association spokesman Brian Newman said that the discovery of the materials was one more symptom of a failing security system.

Arthur Gorrie general manager Jim Fisher rejected the claims, saying the materials were found in a routine search.