Criminals have been picking up litter to payback the community.

Police and Sutton Council have arranged Community Payback initiatives which involves low-level offenders carrying out community-based tasks in the area as part of their sentences.

In a five week long initiative, the Metropolitan Police, Sutton Council and Sutton Housing Partnership have been working together with offenders to clean up the area around the Tudor shops and the petrol station in Wrythe Lane.

The aim is to improve the look of the area and to discourage anti-social behaviour, graffiti and the dropping of litter.

Officers from local Safer Neighbourhoods Teams have been talking to residents and businesses about what improvements they would like to see, as well as going into schools to talk to pupils about the nuisance caused by graffiti and dropping litter.

Sutton Council and Sutton Housing Partnership have been busy improving the street scene by cleaning up alleyways, removing litter from bushes and hedges and repainting road and parking area markings.

A mobile CCTV camera has been installed to deter and detect crime and to help keep residents safe.

Last week community payback offenders were picking up litter in an alleyway behind the shops off Prince of Wales Road supervised by officers from The Wrythe Safer Neighbourhoods Team.