Binman puts lid on 41-year career

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A man thought to be the UK's longest-serving binman is retiring after 41 years in the job.

Mitchell Charles, 64, has been getting up at 0515 BST every day to collect bins in Harrow, north-west London.

Mr Charles, known as Charlie, described it as a "good, steady job" made easier by the introduction of wheelie bins.

Council environment services head Susan Hall said: "He has been an absolute rock, scarcely ever taking a day sick and always taking pride in the job."

'Recycle more'

During his four decades of service, Charlie has picked up approximately 2.3 million bins, travelled a distance of about 213,000 miles on his rounds and worn through more than 80 pairs of boots.

It used to be quite heavy and we had to carry the bins on our back Mitchell Charles

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

"There has been quite a bit of change," said Charlie, who lives in Shepherds Bush, west London.

"People used to throw away different things - they used to throw away clothes and sometimes things that weren't rubbish," he added.

"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."

The introduction of wheelie bins made his job a little easier, he said. "It used to be quite heavy and we had to carry the bins on our back."

Charlie, who moved to Britain from St Lucia in 1960, plans to spend his retirement visiting family and friends in the Caribbean and around the UK.

In 2004 fellow binman George Clark retired after nearly 32 years working in Caithness, Scotland.

He worked for Thurso Town Council.