Officials said Hudson, who was on the run earlier this year after being named as a suspect in a stabbing, was particularly desperate not to be caught. 

Police were checking friends and associates known to the pair. He warned anyone against hiding the escapees. 

Public Prisons Service Midlands regional manager John Jamieson said the pair used implements to cut through the window of their cell in a high security block at the prison. 

They then got on the roof and managed to form a bridge with blankets across the double razor wire on the prison fence. 

He said both could have seriously injured themselves on the wire or the 4.2m drop from the top of the fence to the ground. 

An investigation had been launched into the escape and to find out how the men got access to the implements. 

Hudson and McKegg were last seen at prison muster at 9.45pm on Saturday. They were not reported missing until 10am yesterday.