A vandalised sports club is back on the road to recovery - with the help of offenders.

Westwood Sports Club, Clayton Heights, has suffered more than £3,000 worth of damage from break-ins and vandalism.

But the club is receiving is an unusual helping hand from people convicted by courts and sent on by West Yorkshire Probation Service.

One of the workers' major projects involves strengthening the club's security and making it harder for vandals and burglars to wreak havoc.

The probation service's community service supervisor, David Bailey, said: "We have up to eight people working there at any one time who have been sent to us for a range of offences.

"Much of their work is centred around crime prevention, such as planting hawthorn hedgerows, drainage and digging safety ditches to stop people driving onto the playing surfaces.

"Some of the workers take an interest in their tasks. It depends what they are doing. But at the end of the day, it all helps the club.

"A lot has already been done but there is still much to do."

The helping hand marks a change in fortunes for the club which is more used to being a target for attacks than a beneficiary of help from offenders.

Club secretary John Stead said it made a nice change to be getting a positive contribution from offenders.

He said: "The work that has been done is of immense help to us and I hope it will continue to be.

"It is wonderful to see them doing so much. They have helped with the drainage and planted 3,500 hedges.

"Some of them are beginning to own the work they are putting in and taking pride in it.

"Hopefully it will be seen that they are putting something back into the community - which is what community service is all about.

"It is nice to be getting some positive contributions from them instead of negative ones."