Long stretch in the bin for shoplifters

Petty criminals will be forced to repay their debt to society by searching through rubbish for recyclable items.

The "payback waste initiative" in Bromley is intended to increase the amounts recycled, thereby helping the council avoid landfill tax.

It also hopes to gain government grant money for achieving the borough's set targets.

Offenders convicted of minor crimes such as shoplifting will check rubbish bins from parks and pavements for cans, bottles and newspapers.

This waste is not normally sorted by council officers as it is seen as too costly.

Bromley council and the police already run a scheme in which teams of eight offenders, supervised by probation officers, spruce up messy areas.

Tasks include litter picking, graffiti clearance, clearing debris and cutting back foliage in parks.

The teams cleared 8,000 square metres of graffiti and saved residents £80,000 in labour costs last year.

Councillor Colin Bloom, chairman of the Safer Bromley Partnership, said: "Our initiative punishes offenders while saving residents' money too. In my view that's justice."

A spokesman for the London Probation Service said: "We are pleased that councillors have come up with this innovative way of further improving the Community Payback scheme."

London councils have until 2020 to increase household waste recycling from 27 per cent to 50 per cent.