'You won't believe what people throw away'

While most of us are still asleep at 05:00, an unseen army is already at work on our streets.

"Does it always smell this bad?" I ask.

"Yeah, sorry about that, just part of the job for us by now," says Dan Nicholls, loading another bin into the back of the lorry and watching its contents fly up into the back.

To ask some burning questions and find out what goes on before sunrise, I joined three refuse collectors in Reigate, Surrey, as they headed out on their rounds.

"Everything," says Nicholls. "Sex toys, computers, a dead fox in one which wasn't nice, opening it and seeing that staring back at you."

Dave Oberhoff recalls something even more frightening:"A mannequin - that was so scary. You think, 'oh no wait, that's a body!'"

Greg Gymbrell said he once had a live bird fly out at him.

"The owner must have thought it was dead but it wasn't and it flew right in my face," he said.

Nicholls, Gymbrell and Oberhoff are three of around 100 staff working for Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, keeping streets clear and recycling sorted for thousands of households.

Barely five minutes into the shift, a laptop appears in one of the bins.

Nicholls sighs as he pulls it out, explaining that if crushed, it could catch fire.

"We get a lot of lithium battery fires," says Gymbrell. "When plate goes down in the back of the lorry they tend to crack in half and that's what starts the spark."

Neither Nicholls nor Oberhoff have been caught up in one yet, but Nicholls said: "The place I used to work at before, one of the dust carts actually went up in flames."

Oberhoff adds: "I've heard of fires where they've had to tip the load out on the road to save the truck."

Nicholls works at the back of the truck and says it can be dangerous.

"Me and Greg have both nearly been hit," he said. "We're here to do a job, not upset everybody. If we wanted to do that we could do this a lot worse and a lot slower - but we don't."

"Oh yeah," says Gymbrell. "Shouts, screams, middle fingers, gestures."

Oberhoff said that being a driver was a frightening experience.

He said:"We've had quite a few incidents where they've got so impatient they've gone up on the pavement around us.

"Bear in mind it's school time too, kids running around, and loaders at the back with the bins. A split second and they're knocked over."

For Oberhoff, it is being a proud father.

"My little girl loves it," he said. "She loves seeing us. She thinks we're great."

Gymbrell agrees: "It's the kids, definitely, they just love it.

"I've got two grandsons as well and they're just waving to you all the time. They all come out, they absolutely love it.

"And they love Christmas! The minute half‑term breaks up, the kids come out to see us with their Christmas hats and reindeer ears."

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