Prisoners clean up ahead of Rome's Piazza di Siena horse show.

Rome mayor Virginia Raggi has announced that prisoners are being used to cut grass and clean up the Galoppatoio and Piazza di Siena areas of Villa Borghese ahead of the 87th edition of Piazza di Siena, Rome's prestigious horse show.

The clean-up operation is part of a programme entitled Mi riscatto per Roma (I redeem myself for Rome), undertaken in collaboration between the capital and Italy's justice ministry.

The project has already seen specially-trained prisoners from Rome's Rebibbia prison - all selected on the grounds of being at low risk and serving short-term jail sentences - fixing pot-holed streets in the eastern suburb of Torre Spaccata.

Prisoners were also used to undertake a major clean-up of the Parco della Resistenza ahead of the visit by Rome's mayor last September. The small park behind the Marmorata post office in the Aventino area is known as one of the more neglected green areas in the centre. 

In 2014, maintenance of Rome's parks was among the key sectors linked to the so-called Mafia Capitale case which involved mobsters bribing public officials in return for lucrative city contracts.