A SMELLY dustbin was just the inspiration a Morecambe man needed to give up his job and go it alone in business.

After struggling to get inside his own wheelie bin to scrub it clean, Wayne Jobey gambled his job as an engineering labourer to bring a hint of freshness to the neighbourhood.

He had just16 customers when he launched his wheelie bin cleaning business - but reckons he has come up smelling of roses.

The client base for Wayne's Premier Pressure washing company has rocketed to more than 400 regular customers in less than a year.

"The idea came to me when my wheelie bin started smelling really badly and I decided to try and clean it out. I had a terrible job," says Wayne.

"It struck me that many other people would have this problem and so I did some research and found that no-one in the area had a bin-cleaning company."

Lancaster City Council supported his plans, although Wayne says officials did not think he was being serious at first.

He booked himself onto a six-week business course at Lancaster and Morecambe College and put together a business plan, which he submitted to the Prince's Trust for funding for the £1.50 a time service.

"I got a £4,000 loan to establish the company, which was a starting point and enabled me to buy equipment and a £2,500 power washer," Wayne says.

"It started very slowly and I must say it was a worry to leave a full-time job for just 16 people - wondering where the money was going to come from."

But now Wayne has celebrated the company's first birthday - and is looking forward to getting even busier.

He hopes to gain extra customers soon as the wheelie bin system expands into Heysham.

Wayne, who cleans the grey bins only, can be contacted on 01524-424171 or 07880-826228.