No room for love: 2 female inmates set fire to jail after their request to be cellmates was refused

Two loved-up inmates who wanted to share a cell set fire to the Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility prison in New Zealand after the staff refused their request.

"Two prisoners who were in an intimate relationship, and who wanted to be placed in a unit together, have been at the centre of the unrest and had made it clear they would create as much disruption as possible until they got their way," Regional Commissioner Jeanette Burns told Daily Mail Australia.

According to Burns, the two women prisoners are currently residing in separate units.

On Monday night (26 February), they lit two small fires, which were quickly extinguished by the staff. As of now, "both are settled and compliant".

"Managing the dynamics of relationships in prisons can be extremely challenging. Romantic relationships are actively discouraged", she said.

The two prisoners were not the only ones trying to cause disruption at the facility in order to get their way though.

A transgender inmate also caused chaos as she wanted officials to grant her request of a transfer from the women's prison to a men's facility.

"The prisoner had been smashing windows and inciting other prisoners to be violent as she wanted to be returned to a men's prison," Burns said.

"On Tuesday, a transgender prisoner was relocated back to a men's prison at their request, in the first decision of its kind since our transgender prisoner placement policy came into effect in February 2014.

"Over the last few days, a small number of prisoners have been causing damage, inciting violence and putting other prisoners and staff at risk due to their poor behaviour at Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility," she added.

In response to reports about the unrest being caused due to overcrowding in the prison, Burns said that the facility "is not over capacity, and the site is fully staffed".