UK's longest-serving bin man to retire after 41 years

A binman who has collected rubbish for the last 41 years will hang up his uniform for the last time when he retires tomorrow.

Mitchell Charles, known as Charlie, is thought to be the UK's longest-serving binman, his employers said.

The 64-year-old Londoner said he enjoyed his job but would not miss having to get up at 5.15am every day.

He said: "It has been a great job and I have made a lot of good friends,

"I enjoy meeting people and everyone knows me on my round.

"I'd certainly recommend it as a job - it's a good, steady job."

When Charlie picked up his first bin in the capital in 1967, beer was 10p a pint, the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was the top selling album and a family saloon car cost around £480.

Over his four decades of service, Charlie has picked up 2.3 million bins, travelled and walked a distance of around 213,000 miles on his rounds, worn through more than 80 pairs of boots and worn out around 6,300 pairs of gloves.

Originally from St Lucia, Charlie moved to Britain in 1960 and worked at a garage before joining Harrow's binmen.

"There has been quite a bit of change," he said. "People used to throw away different things - they used to throw away clothes and sometimes things that weren't rubbish.

"At one time people were throwing televisions away, especially when they changed from black and white to colour TVs.

"People are different now and they recycle a lot more. They are more careful about what they throw away and they are very good at recycling."

Charlie, of Shepherd's Bush, west London, said he was pleased when wheelie bins were introduced.

He said: "It used to be quite heavy and we had to carry the bins on our back.

"Wheelie bins made it much easier."

The binman, who has three grown-up children, said he was looking forward to travelling back to the Caribbean and around the UK to visit family and friends when he retires.

Councillor Susan Hall, Harrow Council's head of environment services,
said: "Charlie is putting the (bin) lid on a terrific career with us.

"He has been an absolute rock, scarcely ever taken a day sick and always taken pride in the job.

"His familiar face will be sorely missed on the bin lorries but we wish him well with his retirement."

In 2004, George Clark retired after nearly 32 years working as a binman for Thurso Town Council.