CRIMINALS have carried out nearly £300,000 worth of unpaid work over the past six months.

New figures have revealed offenders working in their communities after being sentenced have contributed tens of thousands of hours in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Rehabilitation Company (HIOWCRC), which is responsible for supervising offenders on Community Payback, say they delivered 37,224 hours of unpaid work over the past six months.

And with the National Living Wage currently at £7.83, that works out as more than £291,000 of work delivered.

Work carried out on unpaid community payback includes 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 and must include a minimum of a day’s work – lasting at least seven hours – once a week.

Community payback sentences can be given for crimes including damaging property, benefit fraud and assault. They are often handed out by judges and magistrates when the offender is appearing at court for the first time or when it is thought such a sentence may be more likely to stop an offender committing crimes than a prison sentence.

Stephen Czajewski, chief operating officer of HIOWCRC, 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.”