A judge in Milan has shaved six weeks off Silvio Berlusconi's once-a-week community service helping Alzheimer's patients, the media mogul's penalty for a tax fraud conviction.

The former Italian premier's lawyer, Valentina Bolis, said the judge took 45 days from his penalty, meaning he will finish in early March.

The lawyer added that the director of the Milan-area Sacred Family centre for elderly and infirm, as well as a social worker who meets monthly with the 78-year-old Berlusconi, were among those providing favourable reports about his service.

A general amnesty reduced Berlusconi's four-year sentence to one year. His age made him eligible for house arrest, but he was ordered to do community service instead.

The conviction cost him his Senate seat but he still leads his centre-right party.

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