PLUMBING apprentice Tobias Badcock was ordered to carry out an extra 20 hours of unpaid work, after he admitted missing a work session with the probation service. Ely magistrates were told that 19-year-old Badcock works three days a week for his employer,

PLUMBING apprentice Tobias Badcock was ordered to carry out an extra 20 hours of unpaid work, after he admitted missing a work session with the probation service.

Ely magistrates were told that 19-year-old Badcock works three days a week for his employer, and spends three days a week on unpaid work parties.

"He is finding things difficult at the moment," solicitor Elfreda Sarfo explained to the court. "He is trying very hard to get the order done."

She said Badcock, of Guntons Close, Soham, was reliant on public transport that was sometimes unreliable.

On February 27 he had failed to attend a work party, and but failed to inform the probation service of his problem.

"It is all a juggling act," she added.