OFFENDERS have paved the way for a man and wife to enjoy their allotment.

Jim McInnes-Boylan has a functional neurological disorder which means he is dependent on a wheelchair and had fallen out of his chair when they first tried to get to their allotment because of the uneven path.

thanks to a community payback project he and his wife can enjoy the fruits of their labours all the more.

Mr McInnes-Boylan and his wife Colina's patch on Clammer Clough Allotments in Cemetery Road, Farnworth was cleaned up and flagged by three men in a Cheshire & Greater Manchester Community Rehabilitation Company Community Payback team.

Mrs McInnes-Boylan said: “I cannot praise Community Payback enough. It’s hard to put into words what I feel because it means everything to us that we can get out and enjoy the fresh air and do something together.

“Within just two days of explaining the project to the community rehabilitation company, they started work. Quite simply, without them we couldn’t have done this.

“They were a great bunch of lads. They really knuckled down and completed a tremendous amount of work to an extremely high standard.”

Teams of up to eight offenders sentenced to unpaid work took a day and a half to clear dense overgrowth before spending another day and a half repairing an old gate and fence and laying flagstones to create a smooth path.

Paul, who received 100 hours community payback for motoring offences, said: “To me, this sums up what community means. What we’ve done has made a difference to Jim’s quality of life. He can now get to where he needs to go.

“Community payback can sometimes be clearing up litter people have dropped, but then the next day it’s a mess again. This job, though, I genuinely enjoyed doing it.”

Geoff, who is completing 150 hours unpaid work for motoring offences, added: “Colina was over-the-moon and obviously that made us feel good about doing something worthwhile.

“It’s a pain because I work and so I’ve had to take time off to do this, but it’s good to be really appreciated.”

Bolton Council’s councillor Nick Peel added: “This is a great example of how Community Payback projects can make a real difference to someone’s life, and the positive impact we can make when we work in partnership together.”