There have been delays in fitting some offenders who have been released from prison with electronic tags, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.

Some 1,700 prisoners were released early from their sentences last week in the first phase of the Government’s plan to tackle overcrowding.

Prisons and probation minister Lord Timpson is due to have a meeting with security company Serco, which took over the MoJ’s tagging contract in May, on Thursday.

An MoJ spokesman said: “Tagging is an important part of our strategy to keep victims safe and cut reoffending, and there are currently record numbers of offenders wearing tags.

“We are holding Serco to account to address delays in fitting some offenders with tags, and will apply financial penalties against the company if this is not resolved quickly.

“While this issue is ongoing, we have prioritised tagging domestic-abuse offenders to make sure their licence conditions, such as staying away from their victims, are strictly followed.”

A Serco spokesperson said: “Since we took over the electronic monitoring contract in May we have been working hard to reduce the number of people waiting to have a tag fitted.

“We work closely with the MoJ and the probation service to fit tags swiftly and prioritise cases based on risk profiles.

“Where an individual is not at home when we call to fit a tag the time taken can be longer. We prioritise making another visit so that people are tagged as soon as possible.”

Last Tuesday’s exodus from jails across England and Wales included some convicted killers, and came after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans in July to cut temporarily the proportion of sentences which inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%.

The Government said the measures were necessary as overcrowding had pushed jails to the “point of collapse”.