'I enjoy cleaning road signs, it's therapeutic'

Three men who have been cleaning dirty street signs for free have said they do it because they love their work and want to make a difference in their communities.

Danny Thornton from Wolverhampton said the Community Clean Team started 12 months ago by cleaning signs as they spotted them, while going about their work as professional exterior cleaners.

But since then Mr Thornton, Dylan Sutton and Alex Wetton have taken to social media to invite people to contact them with requests.

He said they have been asked to clean everything from sports stadium seats to the homes of elderly or disabled people.

The men do the work for free and pay their own expenses, including travel costs, which can range between £10 for a street sign to £80 when they cleaned Northwood community stadium in Stoke-on-Trent last week.

Other jobs have included dirty bus stops, remembrance memorials, children's parks and dogs' homes.

Mr Thornton said: "We used to do this in our spare time, when we would drive past road signs that were barely visible.

"It's important that they're visible, because it's road safety."

Mr Thornton said they did the cleaning because it was a "good thing to do" and added: "I enjoy cleaning the signs, it's therapeutic."

He also said they were finding their travels interesting and had even been asked to travel to London to do some cleaning.

The team now has a TikTok page to promote its work and has gained almost 1,700 followers in just over a week.

While they are absorbing the costs, he said the work had left them "running on fumes" and the men have asked for donations, via a GoFundMe page, to cover their fuel, expenses and time.

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