Perth and Kinross criminals completed nearly 29,000 hours of unpaid work over a year helping pay back their debt to society.
The 2014 Ryder Cup, local sports clubs and primary schools were among the beneficiaries of offenders who have been placed on community payback orders (CPO) by courts.
Members of the council’s community safety committee yesterday heard that there were 312 unpaid work orders successfully completed in 2014-15.
During the Ryder Cup the unpaid work team were involved in a number of projects, including the development of the central area of the new roundabout on the road from the Gleneagles Railway Station.
This area was developed by the team to accurately represent a golf course hole in miniature, along with an area of rough planting to represent the rough of a golf course.
It has become a permanent feature with a plaque recognising the work done by the team inserted into the stone wall forming part of the feature.
Community safety service manager Nicola Rogerson said: “Statistics published in March 2015 show that individuals released from a custodial sentence of six months or less were reconvicted more than twice as often as those given a CPO. That is clearly not a good use of public resources, and is a waste of human potential.
“Prison is also more expensive than community disposals, with the average cost of a CPO being approximately half the cost of a three-month prison sentence.
“The principle of community payback works well and has the potential to add further value to other initiatives in the future, such as providing support to deal with problems discovered during joint home safety visits, tackling existing graffiti and working with EcoSchools projects.”
The unpaid work team also carried out work renovating Vale of Atholl’s football pavilion in Pitlochry, which had fallen into disrepair and was suffering from damp.
The workers installed drainage to alleviate the damp and repainted the inside and outside.
Following the work, Blairgowrie FC approached the team to carry out paintwork on their external property and fencing.
The team has also been involved in a number of litter picks, path clearances and chewing gum removal, which has enhanced the appearance of towns and villages across Perth and Kinross.
Yesterday the committee welcomed the findings of the report.
Councillor Heather Stewart said: “In the past, the approach has been somewhat haphazard, but now it seems to be much more focused.
“I’m very encouraged by this report.”