A Garden of Remembrance was created by young people through a pilot program designed to help low-level offenders.

Five young people spent five days transforming the Garden of Remembrance in the grounds of St Lawrence Church in Towcester, Northamptonshire, through the Urgent Justice programme.

They were caught engaging in anti-social behavior on church grounds and were ordered to carry out work in the area.

Rev Paula Challen, Rector of St Lawrence Church, said the scheme was bringing “positive change” to young people.

“As a church that relies on volunteers, it is wonderful to have the help of young people involved in the emergency justice program to revitalize such a special place,” he added.

The Emergency Justice program offers an alternative to prosecution for people who commit lesser crimes such as criminal damage or public nuisance.

Criminals can be directed by police officers and PCSOs to the program, which has started to accept young people between the ages of 12-18.

More than 100 people have participated in the pilot since the beginning of the year and more than 500 hours of work have been completed.

The Garden of Remembrance, built in 2018 to celebrate the centenary of the end of the First World War, has been made ready for the upcoming Remembrance Day celebrations.

Neighborhood Policing Sergeant Lorna Clarke, of Northamptonshire Police, who led the programme, said it helped young people “take some ownership of their actions”.

He said: “We have been working with St Lawrence Church for some time and when we learned they were experiencing problems with anti-social behavior it seemed appropriate to refer them to the Urgent Justice programme.

“Giving back in this way has been really positive.”