Memorials to the Waltham Forest war dead have been cleaned and repaired by convicted offenders, ahead of this weekend’s Remembrance Day services.

The clean up happened across the borough yesterday at five sites in Leytonstone and Walthamstow.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is encouraging other boroughs to follow suit.

More than 1.3 million hours of Community Payback were carried out in London last year with offenders undertaking between 40 and 300 hours of unpaid work, including clearing wasteland and removing graffiti, in order to pay back the community for the crimes they have committed.

Currently 82 per cent of the community orders or licenses issued in the capital are successfully completed. Working with London Probation and local authorities, the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) aims to increase this to 92 per cent by 2016.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Stephen Greenhalgh who visited Waltham Forest to see the work being carried out said: “Our aim is to make justice in the community more visible and purposeful.

“As we approach Armistice Day in this, the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, it is right that we are making offenders repay their local community by restoring areas of remembrance in commemoration of those who gave their lives for our country.

"Working with MOPAC, Waltham Forest has set a precedent for the capital in driving this scheme forward and we encourage other boroughs to follow suit.”