CRIMINALS have put more than half a million pounds back into their community in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, according to the latest figures.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Community Rehabilitation Company (HIOW CRC), which is responsible for supervising offenders on community payback and ensuring they comply with their sentence and the orders of the court, delivered 73,890 hours in the 12 months to December 2018.

With the national wage standing at £7.83 that equates to more than £578,558 of work delivered.

Those ordered to take on unpaid community payback work participate in a range of manual tasks, including removing graffiti, litter picking, clearing parks and cemeteries, renovating buildings and work in charity shops.

Magistrates or judges can sentence offenders to carry out anything from 40 to 300 hours of unpaid work as part of their order. Community payback must include a minimum of a day’s work – lasting at least seven hours – once a week.

People can also be sentenced to intensive community payback orders, which mean they must complete 28 hours of work every week.

Community sentences can be given for crimes including damaging property, benefit fraud and assault.

Stephen Czajewski, chief operating officer at HIOW CRC, said: “Community payback provides a tough, effective and visible punishment requiring people to undertake challenging work while giving something back to communities where they live.

“It also provides an opportunity for people to turn their experience into a positive one by picking up new skills that can help them towards paid employment and leading more stable, positive and crime-free lives.”