450,000 hours community service done by criminals in West Midlands and Staffordshire
More than 450,000 hours of community service were completed by criminals across the West Midlands and Staffordshire last year.
Staffordshire and West Midlands Community Rehabilitation Company, which runs the Community Payback programme, released figures showing more than 3,400 offenders took part in the scheme.
Formerly known as community service, the criminals complete jobs including litter picking, clearing undergrowth, repairing and redecorating community centres and removing graffiti.
The figures show 454,940 hours of community service were completed last year, which equates to almost £3 million of free labour for communities when considering the minimum wage rate of of £6.50 per hour.
A survey of those who had used the scheme showed 97 per cent were satisfied with the work, and 98 per cent said Community Payback provided a good service.
Across Staffordshire and the West Midland,s 376 organisations and businesses use Community Payback to complete work for them.
