The La Roche-sur-Yon prison in Vendée reached an extraordinary occupancy level in October 2025, with about three inmates per cell and crowded conditions including nine-square-meter spaces shared by two or more beds.

This overcrowding is part of a broader investigative piece by Ouest-France that tracks daily developments and the human impact of the overcrowding.

The extreme crowding is amplified by the prison’s small size, where each inmate substantially affects overall occupancy metrics.

Even after a downward adjustment to around 240 percent, the facility remains the most overcrowded in France and has long driven the national debate on prison living conditions.

On November 3, 2025, Deputy Philippe Latombe visited the prison, underscoring ongoing parliamentary and public scrutiny of living conditions.

The article provides descriptive details of cell setups—three inmates in a compact space with bunk and single beds—to illustrate the severity of crowding.