Prison staff stressed since Vic riots

More than a quarter of Melbourne's high security remand prison staff have been issued with medical certificates for stress since a riot that caused an estimated $10 million damage.

The Metropolitan Remand Centre at Ravenhall has been left scrambling for staff with about 30 employees unable to work, some because they have seen CCTV footage of the riots showing how easily prisoners were able to escape their cells, News Ltd has reported.

A corrections spokesman told the Herald Sun extra staff had been brought in but denied that large numbers were on leave.

Prisoners overran the remand centre on June 30, the day before statewide prison smoking bans were enforced.