CONVICTED crooks in Essex have been learning gardening skills and getting qualifications as part of a project run by a charity.

The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers has teamed up with Essex County Council and the county’s probation service to give offenders the chance to do unpaid environmental work as part of their punishment.

Up until March this year crooks in Basildon – as well as offenders in Colchester and Chelmsford – can work three days a week tidying up grass verges, clearing bushes and cleaning up coastal paths.

Any criminals taking part will get an NVQ qualification in communication and teamwork and can also get a City and Guilds in highways management.

By March it is thought around 120 convicted criminals will have taken part in the project.

Jon Bayley, project trainer at the trust, said the programme would give convicted crooks a better chance of getting a job.

He added: “I see participants gain an increased knowledge and awareness of the countryside, its ecology, and the issues facing it.

“I think the NVQ in employability skills is a great way of ensuring the unpaid work order has the maximum positive effect for the offender and the community.”

Essex probation director Pete Mangan added: “We are delighted our work with the county council and BTCV is producing the results we’re after.

“Giving offenders the skills to get a job is a major factor in cutting crime, and this partnership is a good example of Essex agencies working together to achieve this.”

The work also forms part of Essex Probation’s Community Payback scheme, which sees offenders carrying out unpaid work in their community.

Last summer, several convicted criminals – given unpaid work as part of their punishment – tidied up the Five Links estate in Somercotes, Laindon.

Wearing bright orange bibs with Community Payback written on the back, the men cut shrubs and trees, planted flowers, swept up and cleaned graffiti in the area.