An X-ray of a mobile phone inserted up a gangster’s backside provided an eye-catching splash for a regional daily.

The Manchester Evening News ran the bizarre image on its front page yesterday, which shows the phone inside remand prisoner Stephen Cavanagh.

The MEN reported how Cavanagh, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit affray, has had his prison stay lengthened as a result of the incident.

On Twitter, editor Rob Irvine described the X-Ray as making the phone look “a bit like Big Ben in his bottom”.

The MEN’s story reads: “This extraordinary image lays bare the lengths inmates will go to to smuggle phones behind bars.

“The X-ray revealing a mobile phone a Tameside gangster had inserted up his backside was taken at HMP Manchester.

“Staff at Strangeways healthcare wing had to examine Stephen Cavanagh after the insertion left him in agony.

“Now he has had his jail-time extended as a result of the botched smuggling bid.”

Cavanagh, 32, was confronted by officers after a complaint of abdominal pains led to the X-ray being taken.

After a scan with a magnetic wand later confirmed the obvious, Cavanagh managed to eject the phone from his system and flush it down the toilet.

He has now been ordered to serve an extra six months on top of a 27 month sentence for conspiracy to commit affray as a result of the find.