The rising number of criminals being locked up in Britain's prisons means that little can be done to prevent them reoffending, Simon Hughes has warned.

With the number of people in jail edging towards the Prison Service's maximum capacity, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman called for the expansion of community sentencing.

Addressing party members gathered in Torquay, Hughes said that "prison only works if it prevents people from reoffending".

"If our prisons are overcrowded, overstretched and understaffed rehabilitation work falls by the wayside.

"Simply putting more and more people in prison is not the answer - and is a terribly dangerous and defeatist and negative road to go down," he warned.

Hughes said he favoured an expanded and "intensive" system of community sentences.

The new approach would "compel offenders to repair and rebuild the neighbourhoods they have damaged, clean graffiti off walls, repair vandalised property under supervision, and face their victims".

"We would also require the Probation Service to work with local councils, and use this workforce to complete necessary jobs locally. This way everyone gets accountability in the local community for what has been done."

He rejected suggestions that this approach would be "soft on crime", saying it was a solution rather than a soundbite.

"To punish crime and to maximise rehabilitation and recompense to victims, it is solutions supported by the community and proven to work in and for the community which must always come first."