Pete hopes to clean up with sparkling bins

But for Pete Seiden, wheelie bins mean much more – they are how he makes his living.

The 46-year-old, from Baffins, set up Totally Wheelie Clean – a wheelie bin cleaning company – two years ago.

Since then, the business, which runs out of a depot in Moneyfield Avenue, in Copnor, has grown from covering 50 bins to 10,000, with plans to take on another 10,000 in the pipeline.

Pete, a former builder, said: ‘We’ve grown from a small business with one van to employing five other people plus buying the vans – each of which has £20,000 worth of equipment on them.

‘We are now covering as far as London and Northampton and are in talks to expand.

‘We started from scratch – and we have grown into a successful family business.’

Pete has even taken on his daughter Taylor, 25, and son Declan, 20, who both help with the rounds.

The firm carried out a trial for the Portsmouth City Council, where it cleaned 1,000 of its bins at the end of last year – and they are looking to make it a regular thing. Plus they are already working with Gosport Borough Council on a twice-yearly basis.

Pete said he is hopeful for the future as Portsmouth City Council are also looking to bring in more domestic wheelie bins across the city.

However Pete says his main business has come from commercial bins, as businesses face pressure to up their hygiene standards.

‘We are going to jobs every day at nursing homes and pubs,’ he said.

‘The first time we do a clean, it is a big job, it can take forever as it’s never been done before.

‘But people can see the difference it makes when they have us. It stops pests, like rats and foxes, and not to mention the smells.’