A ONE-armed cleaner has been swept aside by council bosses — despite being one of the best in Britain. Daniel Jeffery, 47, lost his right arm in a motorcycle smash in 1999 and has amazed people with his sparkling cleans with just one arm. But despite developing a string of amazing cleaning techniques, managers said […]
A ONE-armed cleaner has been swept aside by council bosses — despite being one of the best in Britain.
Daniel Jeffery, 47, lost his right arm in a motorcycle smash in 1999 and has amazed people with his sparkling cleans with just one arm.
But despite developing a string of amazing cleaning techniques, managers said his work was sub-standard and fired him from his contract.
The married dad-of-three has now demanded an apology, claiming he was nicknamed “Bandit” — as in one-armed bandit — by a manager at Basildon Borough Council in Essex.
He rubbished claims his cleans were no good — pointing out he came third in a national contest of 4,000 cleaners despite his disability.
Daniel, of Southend, said: “This is just completely unfair. There have never been any complaints like this about my work in the past.
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“It’s just one woman who is prejudiced because I only have one arm.
“There had never been any problems with my cleans until she intentionally failed one inspection.
“You ask anyone — because I only have one arm I have to work harder to get my cleans to the right standard. I leave any room sparkling. She just took a dislike to me.
“She started calling me Bandit and was even introducing me to people that way — and soon everyone was calling me that.
“I thought it was meant to be affectionate at first — but she was clearly taking the p***.”
Daniel — a cleaner with 20 years’ experience — was working for contractor Pinnacle Group, cleaning council offices and public buildings.
During the pandemic he did virus deep-cleans for eight-hour shifts, on £9.50 an hour.
He came third in the cleaning industry awards competition for Pinnacle’s Rising Star gong in 2000, despite losing his arm just the year before.
He says council bosses wrote a letter to Pinnacle demanding he was taken off the job.
The company has refused to sack him, instead finding him new work in London.
Daniel worked as a shop window-fitter before his motorbike slipped on the A13 and crashed.
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His right arm had to be amputated and metal bars inserted in his legs.
Basildon Council is investigating. Pinnacle Group declined to comment.
