I clean dirty road signs so drivers can read them

22 hours ago

Jasmine LoweIn Anlaby

News image — Norman Marshall prepares to clean a sign in Anlaby, East Yorkshire, which he spotted while driving

BBC A man on the side of a road holding a large brush, of the type used by window cleaners, with a large, white, dirty road sign behind him. He is wearing a blue jacket and beanie hat. A white van is parked by the side of the road. On the back it says, "we clean stuff really good!" The road sign is covered in green moss. It has a roundabout symbol on it, with exits pointing to Anlaby, Hessle, B1232, Hull B1231 and Kirk Ella. — Norman Marshall prepares to clean a sign in Anlaby, East Yorkshire, which he spotted while driving

A man who cleans dirty road signs says he likes to know drivers can see where they are going.

Norman Marshall, who runs a cleaning company, said he cannot resist transforming dirty signs he spots on his rounds, "whatever the weather".

The 49-year-old from Hull added: "I don't actually know who's responsible for cleaning the signs, but I've just took it upon myself to clean them for my community."

A spokesperson for East Riding of Yorkshire Council, which is responsible for maintaining traffic signs, said: "While we appreciate some residents take pride in their area, we wouldn't advise people to clean road signs themselves for road safety reasons."

The same road sign has now been cleaned of moss and looks bright white. Bare trees can also be seen under a grey sky. — The sign after Norman's transformation

Marshall said he had cleaned more than a dozen signs in the past year.

"I see them and I have to just stop and clean them. It's a nice, quick, easy, satisfying transformation."

He said he only used water to clean the signs and described it as a "five-minute job".

"The signs are there so you can see where you're going and where you want to go, so it just makes it easier if you can actually see them when they're clean."

Marshall posts videos of his exploits on social media, with one seen by more than 500,000 people.

"It always gets really good response. It's all really positive feedback," he added.

The council spokesperson said its teams inspected and maintained traffic signs "so they are visible, legible and safe for road users".

"To strengthen this work, we have recently invested in dedicated sign‑cleaning equipment and started a programme of routine sign cleaning across the region," they added.

"We don't want people to put themselves or others at risk so close to a road. But we do welcome reports from residents about dirty or obscured signs, which help us to prioritise our maintenance work."

Listen to highlights fromHull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look Northor tell us about a story you think we should be coveringhere.

Download the BBC News app from the App Storefor iPhone and iPad orGoogle Play for Android devices