Mobile phones were also among the items, worth thousands of pounds, discovered in the attempt at Durham Frankland Prison.

The major haul included heroin, cocaine, bricks of cannabis, amphetamines, Subutex painkillers, 13 mobiles, 24 SIM cards, phone charger cables and three tins of neat alcohol.

They were packed in a sealed prison bag delivered by courier and made to look as if they were for a prisoner who had been transferred from Manchester.

But officers at Frankland, which houses dangerous prisoners such as Soham killer Ian Huntley, discovered the package's contents.

An insider said: "It must be one of the biggest finds of its tins in the prison's regime."

A Prison Service spokesman said: "Vigilant staff at HMP Frankland foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs, mobiles, and alcohol in resealed food tins.

"This was excellent work by prison officers, reflective of the ways in which we are succeeding in tackling the problem of illicit items being smuggled into prisons."