Widower John, 83, from Luton, has lived alone in his bungalow along with 33 years worth of rubbish and clutter – so much that his sofa was completely buried and he had to clamber over bin bags each night to reach the few inches of hit mattress not covered in junk.
An elderly man has been forced to sit in the same tiny spot in his kitchen for three decades due to the mounds of junk that had piled up in his home.
Extreme cleaners Maxine and Jasmine, from the ITV show Call the Cleaners, were called in by his son Peter, who was desperate to help his father and prevent him being moved into a care home.
Piles of rubbish covered every inch of the small bungalow including the kitchen, above, which is completely inaccessible
Widower John, left, had been living alone for 33 years, and his son Peter, middle, was desperate to help his father live in a tidy clutter-free home
The only thing not covered by bin bags was his toilet, the sink and bath were used as storage spaces
The kitchen was covered with old tins of food, bags of rubbish and dirty crockery that had been left out
John had to climb an assault course of old clothes, rubbish and clutter every night he went to bed – which is just seen
Because of the mounds of clutter in the bungalow, John would just sit on a chair in the only space free in the kitchen
They were able to transform his home in just three days along with the help of a team of four cleaners.
Maxine and Jasmine said they felt daunted by the ‘mammoth task’ ahead of them, but promised to recover as much of John’s treasured possessions as they could.
The pair had to manoeuvre their way around around the small bungalow, in which not one inch of the floor was visible because of the clutter that had accumulated over the years.
As they reached the bedroom, they discovered that the wardrobes haven’t been opened in decades, and they even found an old Tesco shopping receipt from 1997 buried among crumbling shoes.
‘Are these shoes made of bread?’ exclaimed Maxine, before she held up the receipt.
It lists long-life milk at 28p and value bread at 21p – a substantial difference to the prices 20 years later, with the milk 55p and bread around 40p.
After Maxine and Jasmine spend three days sorting through John’s home, they reveal a new set of comfy chairs and a furniture in the living room
The duo also tackle the bathroom, managing to uncover the bathtub which had been unused for years
Now John can spend time in his tidy kitchen, which his son Peter says he will be able to redecorate
John was thrilled with his refreshed abode, thanking the cleaners for doing a brilliant job and uncovering long-lost treasures
A new bread was brought in for John so that he could have a comfortable nights sleep without the bags of rubbish surrounding him
Maxine, who has been running her business for 12 years and has completed more than 500 jobs, cleared out VHS cassettes from the living room and staggered across John’s long-lost mobility scooter keys buried underneath.
John was thrilled to be reunited with them as well as a memory box filled with birthday cards for his son from the day he was born.
The widow was also given a brand new bed – and his first comfortable night’s sleep in more than 30 years.
The cleaning duo also found a wardrobe unopened for two decades with a shopping receipt in from 1997
Seven tonnes of rubbish that John had accumulated over the years were removed by the cleaning team
Maxine was able to find a box of memories underneath John’s clutter that contained birthday cards to his son
‘I am very pleased, thank you,’ he told the cleaning duo when he was shown around his sparkling abode.
‘We can get in there now, decorate it and put in new carpets. He can have a nice comfortable life and his grandkids can come and visit him. He’ll have a happier life and his social life will be improved,’ his son said.
‘It’s lovely to see all these things that I haven’t seen for a while. They become like old friends to you.’
Call the Cleaners returns next Tuesday on ITV at 8.30pm
