AT the end of January 2020, performer Joe Leather was working on a show in Shanghai when he decided to come back to the UK for a couple of weeks.
Little did he know that the pandemic would lead to that fortnight's holiday becoming a little more permanent than imagined.
Without a job back home and clubs, bars and theatres all shut due to social distancing measures Bolton-born Joe, 33, decided to look for something else.
Realising that refuse collection would still be a thing during the pandemic, he applied for a position in Crewe near his dad's house and got the job.
"I've always been a performer but during Covid, I had to find something else to do," Joe told the M.E.N.
"I ended up moving to my dad's in Crewe and I was trying to get a job and earn some money. I was trying to apply for loads of stuff and I realised that refuse loading wasn't really going to go anywhere so I applied for it.
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