Peter Bolton and his partner Terry Trelsa, both 51, have been running the firm since 1984, and say they're delighted to reach the milestone.

Their work can range from attending construction and building sites to schools and local authority contracts.

Peter, who is the second team captain for Whittle-le-Woods Cricket Club in his spare time, said: "We do all kinds of work, mainly in the North West, but we're very happy to go further afield."

The company can call on a fleet of seven sweepers, which can clean up at everything from football matches to festivals.

Peter said: "We recently did work at the Southport Flower Show, although I don't want to give away too much in case it spurs on our rivals to compete!"

One of the company's most unusual and entertaining jobs was the Gay Pride Festival in Manchester around five years ago.

"We arrived in the early hours of the morning and many of the attendees were still revelling away at 4am," he joked.

Sweeperhire Ltd has six members of staff, including Peter's 29-year-old son, and although the slowdown in the building industry has had a knock-on effect, the Chorley firm continues to keep sweeping away the competition.