A lone car in the otherwise deserted prison carpark roused the suspicions of staff who were watching on camera from the monitor room about 4.10am Monday. 

When the car’s lights flashed several times in the direction of the jail, staff confronted the driver and her passenger.

The women allegedly admitted they were there to collect two inmates who planned to escape. 

Staff searched the prison’s minimum security section, adjacent to the car park. 

They found a 20-metre rope made of bedsheets and a 10-metre electrical cord concealed in a garbage bin in a common area inside the accommodation unit. 

Two inmates, aged 39 and 24, have been segregated in the prison’s maximum security section while an inquiry by the Corrective Services Investigation Unit progresses. 

The unit, made up of seconded NSW police, is investigating how the inmates intended to break out of their secure accommodation unit to reach the six-metre high perimeter fence. 

Corrections Minister David Elliott praised prison officers for their “prompt and effective actions” in foiling the escape bid. 

“The safety of our community depends on custodial officers such as these," he said. 

“I commend staff for their vigilance and quick action ,at a time of the night when most of us are sound asleep in our beds.” 

Nowra Police are investigating the actions of the women. 

No charges had been laid Tuesday afternoon. 

The attempt follows an unrelated incident at the prison on Sunday, where security staff found 927 grams of marijuana in a visitor’s car.

 The discovery occurred after a drug sniffer dog detected traces of marijuana on the car’s occupants during a routine visitor search. 

One of the occupants has been charged with drug offences. 

Authorities say there was no plan to introduce the marijuana to the prison itself.