Celebrated Soham street cleaner hangs up his broom

DEDICATED Soham street cleaner Chris Burgess has decided to hang up his broom and cart after four years keeping the streets of the town sparkling clean.

Mr Burgess, 66, won the Townsperson of the Year Award three times in a row for his sterling work and was often seen out beyond his allotted hours making sure the pavements were pristine.

Mr Burgess, of Bushell Lane, said he would not be stopping work altogether though, and was on the look out for a part-time role to keep him occupied.

He said: “Each day was different in my job, a met a lot of nice people and I really enjoyed it. I will miss it but I think the time was right was to step aside.

“I don’t want to stop altogether, some people like to, but I would prefer to keep ticking over with something that I can do for a few hours.”

Soham resident Liz Jugg said: “Chris was a very popular figure and very well liked. He was so dedicated, instead of packing up at 3pm you would still see him out still working at 5pm and he even worked on Christmas Day.”

Mr Burgess was presented with a card signed by a host of businesses and residents of Soham.