An extra £5 million has been allocated to clear the backlog in community service orders.The funding has been announced just a week after Sheriff Tierney criticised the effectiveness of community service when it was disclosed that a man sentenced to 280 hours had only been given two and a half hours work to do.

"The circumstances of this case appear to give grounds for both public and judicial concern as to the management of community service orders in Aberdeen," Tierney said at the time.

Today, Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill said the extra funding was intended to clear the current backlog.

"I fully accept that there are pressures on hard-working local authority staff to deliver improvements - I know that they require help to clear the backlog and make real progress towards the targets," he said.

"Community services need to be challenging. We need to get people on them and through them more quickly and successfully."