Chimney sweeps might be a profession more associated with the Victorian era but a need for households to save money is giving the profession a comeback.
According to Paul Elms, a chimney sweep from Box, with gas and oil prices rocketing and households struggling to pay fuel bills, more and more people are returning to traditional ways of heating homes such as wood burners, which in return is putting him in demand.
The father-of-one trained with the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps in 2010 while he was still a mobile crane driver but a desire to spend more time with his family encouraged the career change.
He said: "I had a chimney sweep come to my house and having a family who I wanted to spend more time with I thought it would be a good move. It also meant I could control the hours I worked."
The 39-year-old launched his company, P & R Chimney Sweeps, with his wife Ruth last year and slowly built it up so this September he was able to leave his previous job of crane driving. He said becoming a chimney sweep was the best decision he has made.
He said: "I'm really busy at the moment with the time of year and people getting their chimneys swept before using them.
"There's not many chimney sweeps around, which is good. So many people are going back to wood burners because with gas and that going up people can't afford their central heating."
Mr Elms said it was important that any home with a chimney got it swept before it is used this winter, and if a chimney is used on a regular basis it should be swept up to three times a year.
