ESSEX courts ordered £2million worth of free labour to be carried out by offenders over the past year.

The work was performed by 3,000 offenders given community orders instead of prison sentences.

Ongoing work currently being carried out across the county includes: l Forty-five schools benefiting from groundwork, decorating, decking, fencing and general maintenance l Thirty-six elderly people’s homes, special needs and adult learning centres are being painted, cleaned, maintained, or groundwork and gardening is taking place l Fifty-seven churches benefiting from grass cutting, painting and decorating, fencing, cleaning and general maintenance l Seventy-six council projects, voluntary organisations and clubs are being helped with paving, cementing, painting, gardening, ground clearance, tree planting and maintenance l Forty-three other projects are receiving help, including community associations, servicemen’s clubs, allotments, housing estates, hostels, country parks, Scout huts, hospices, social services referrals, and National Trust properties.

Pete Mangan, director for Essex Probation, said: “The excellent feedback we constantly receive shows we’re doing things well.

“We are dealing with offenders, so some will obviously try to push the boundaries.

“It’s our job to make sure standards are maintained.

“If we find any lax behaviour, we take action. Sometimes things can go wrong, as in any other walk of life. But in the context of 950 people every week doing this work, these occurrences are rare and we clamp down on them promptly.”

Essex Probation Service claims community service is the most successful order available to the court at reducing re-offending.

Around 75 per cent of offenders do not offend again during the next two years.

By comparison, just 29 per cent of offenders sentenced to short prison sentences do not reoffend in the next two years.

Between April and June alone, the courts made Community Payback requirements on 783 people in Essex.