Hanson Bath & Portland Stone on the island of Portland, Dorset, are working with the prison service on the island to try to give offenders a new start.

Bath & Portland Stone have taken on some of the offenders to give them work experience at their Park Road masonry works, helping them to get used to the discipline of work and to integrate into a normal society.

Jonathan Pitt, general manager of Bath & Portland Stone, approached the Young Offenders Institution (YOI) with the idea. He says: "These young lads have not had a good start in life and I felt we could help to steer them back on to the right path by offering them experience of a steady job."

Masonry works manager Neil Fuller played an important role in liaising with the YOI, interviewing candidates and overseeing the scheme.

The first trainee stayed for three months before he was released. He went on start an apprenticeship at College. Now Bath & Portland have taken on their second trainee and an adult prisoner from The Verne prison.

Jonathan Pitt admits he had been concerned about how the workforce would react to having an offender alongside them, but says they have been very understanding and he attributes much of the success of the scheme to them.

The prison service like the idea, too. Greg Cunningham, who heads prisoner learning and development at Portland YOI, said: "It has a number of benefits as far as we are concerned. It gives the offender a valuable insight into being treated as a normal part of the workforce. It boosts their confidence and gives them something to build on when they are released and there is plenty of evidence to indicate that having stable employment significantly reduces the risk of re-offending."

There is a historical link between prisoners and the quarries on the island of Portland, only in the past it was called hard labour. These days the prisoners are paid, the money being saved up for them and given to them on their release.