A Wick-based community payback officer talked about some of the recent projects his clients had worked on at Wick, Thurso and Reiss to make local improvements for the public.

Steve MacDonald works in the Criminal Justice Service as part of the Care and Learning arm of Highland Council and is based at Wick Airport Industrial Estate.

Steve, who is a retired police sergeant, calls the payback offenders "clients" and recently spent a gruelling day with one of them to transform an area overgrown with weeds in Thurso. "It was highlighted to me by a member of the community council in Thurso that the steps from the Esplanade to Durness Street were in a horrendous state," he said.

"It was myself and one client and we took it upon ourselves last Thursday to do the job. It's not part of my remit but as we're short-staffed I'll help out rather than cancel the day. We were armed with black bags, a hose, shovels and brushes and we did the whole lot from top to bottom and it took the entire day but what an absolute difference."

When images of the transformed steps were posted on Thurso Community Council's Facebook page there were many positive responses lauding the efforts of Steve and his client.

Less well known perhaps but equally beneficial to many who enjoy seaside walks in Caithness is work the payback team do to make access to Reiss beach a bit easier. The path to the beach from the car park near the golf club is regularly cleared of stones to make it easier to make it easier to walk onto the sand.

"It was basically inaccessible to anyone with walking difficulties or elderly folk trying to get on the beach," said Steve. "We created a path last year to allow anyone access and we go down periodically to maintain it as the tide comes in and moves the stones."

A memorial bench that was positioned near the Castle of Old Wick in memory of late schoolteacher David Oliver was also renovated recently by Steve and his clients. Despite the fact it had only been sited at its scenic location in 2021 the bench had become severely affected by adverse weather conditions.

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"Because of where it is, in a very exposed place, it was getting badly weathered. We took it upon ourselves to take it in, get it repainted and renovated and put it back in place." The team used a top quality weatherproofing agent on its surface to help extend the bench's life.

Steve says that community payback work can work wonders for offenders who will find a new sense of "satisfaction and pride" from making positive changes in their locale. "Without a shadow of a doubt it can be a lifechanging experience. If they can give something back to the community it will hopefully ensure that they don't offend again."

Should anyone require further details of the work carried out by the community payback team, Steve can be contacted at Criminal Justice Services on 01349 781300.