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The man who cleans dirty road signs for free

Clean Cymru Man in front of a road sign holding tripod and window cleaning equipment. He is stood next to a busy main road.Clean Cymru
Clean Cymru Man in front of a road sign cleaning it with window cleaning equipment. He is stood next to a busy main road.Clean Cymru
Ben Edgson says giving back to the community is the best part of the job
Ben said those who drive for a living are very thankful

Have you ever struggled to read road signs when driving?

Dirt because of bad weather can cause signs to become unreadable, especially in the evening.

A cleaning company from Bridgend has taken matters into its own hands and started cleaning council-owned signs in between paid jobs.

Clean Cymru started posting social media videos of the process and said the response from the public had been "amazing".

Ben Edgson, 37, from Bridgend, started his cleaning business during the Covid lockdown in 2020 and had previously spent his career working in gyms.

"During lockdown I couldn't sit still, so my partner said, 'why don't you start something new?' "

He said at the beginning he was working out of the boot of his car, but now had two vans and over 700 customers from across the Bridgend county area.

Clean Cymru Two images of a man cleaning a road sign. He is wearing an orange hi-vis jacket and a Santa hat. The image on the left the road sign is dirty, and the one on the right is clean and it can be read. The road sign shows Porthcawl, South Cornelly and North Cornelly. It is a roundabout road sign.Clean Cymru
Ben says he is sympathetic to councils due to budget cuts and is happy to help out when he can

Ben said he started noticing the dirty road signs travelling between routes on his regular paid cleaning jobs.

"I've always tried to give back to the community, cleaning community halls and helping people out," he said.

He decided he would start cleaning the council owned signs for free.

Ben said the response from people on social media had been "amazing".

"Especially, those who drive for a living. HGV drivers have commented to say thanks, it makes our lives easier," he added.

Ben also added that he took precaution before he cleaned and filmed himself cleaning on the roadside.

"When we do clean, we wear hi-vis clothing and ensure the area around us is safe."

'Satisfying to watch'

Ben films the cleaning process and posts it on TikTok.

"I enjoy watching those type of cleaning videos so I started showing my own work, and the response has been great."

He said his videos are "going viral" with the majority of comments thanking him for his work.

Ben said the process of the signs being cleaned was satisfying to watch.

Some signs take about 30 to 45 minutes to clean and "a few washes" to come up sparkling.

"Some of it is so stubborn, it takes a lot of effort to clean it."

Ben said he was "sympathetic" to the council and was "aware" budget cuts meant not everything could be maintained.

He added he did not mind cleaning the signs free because it "makes Bridgend look better" for those living and visiting there.

Bridgend council said: "It's always nice to see community minded residents and local businesses take pride in their surrounding areas, but the cleaning of traffic and street signs by members of the public does present a health and safety risk for both the individuals involved and wider highway users."