When I was six years old I wanted to be a policemen, when you see on tele, it all seems quite exciting.

My name is Adrian Bristow; I’m a waste operations driver/supervisor. Day to day I’m mainly out on the road in an HGV, dust cart, collecting people’s domestic rubbish.

When I left school my intentions were to join the Royal Air Force, I got through all the exams, but then I failed on the medical for being under weight. I was a bit, disheartened. I didn’t foresee any future trying to get in there, because no matter how much I ate, I couldn’t put any weight on. Nowadays it’s the other way round!

We then lined up an apprenticeship in car mechanics and I was offered a position as running a garage as a manager and doing MOTs there as well.

I’d since split up with a previous partner and I was with a new partner and we’d been talking about the idea of moving up north. We had no idea where we were going to go, didn’t look on a map and stick a pin in, we just went north and that was it. It did take time to find a job; I was unemployed for a year and a half and then I got a job driving on these dust carts.

I think the highlight of my life is that I’ve got seven children. My oldest boy is hoping to follow my lead in car mechanics, the ones up in Grimsby, they haven’t even thought about what they want to be when they grow up yet, they’re just too busy trying to make my life hell I think.