EAGLE-EYED binman Rob Lovatt turned hero after disturbing a gang of burglars red-handed.

The council stalwart, who is celebrating 40 years' service with the Moorlands district council, was on a rural round at Threapwood, near Cheadle, when he spied the crooks.

He alerted the police and the thieves were forced to flee empty-handed, earning Rob the grateful thanks of the owner.

He said: "It could have been a big job. There were about four of them.

"They had obviously checked out the place. As I drove off the main road, two of them were at the top of the drive in a car doing something fishy and another two were fiddling with a lock.

"Two of them ran off across fields when they realised they had been rumbled and I chased after them. The other two drove off in the car."

Man had just landed on the moon and The Beatles were putting the finishing touches to their iconic Abbey Road album when Rob started working for the council.

Reminiscing on 40 years of public service, he also recalled the council having the last laugh when as a young man he and his brother John ran into a bus shelter in their car after a night out.

He said: "The irony was that I was working for the council as a builder at the time and I was given the job to finish it off and knock it down completely."

John operates single-handedly collecting black sacks from isolated locations which cannot be reached in a bin wagon.

Many of his customers have become his friends and he has even been known to stop off for breakfast with some of them on his morning break.

Rob, aged 55, has no plans to retire as he looks back on a working life in which he has served the public as bricklayer, gardener and refuse collector.

A resident of Lancaster Avenue, Leek, he started work as an apprentice bricklayer with Leek Urban District Council. Responsible for routine maintenance of council housing, he transferred to the new Staffordshire Moorlands District Council when it was established in 1974.

After 14 years as a bricklayer, he switched to the parks and countryside service, for which he worked for nine years keeping Leek Cemetery spick and span. Since 1992, he has been a driver and refuse collector, serving a rural area including Cauldon Lowe, Ilam, Waterhouses, Butterton and Onecote, travelling as far as the Derbyshire border at Hartington.

He recalls being delighted in 1994 when the council's waste collection service fought off a bid from a private sector company that had wanted to provide the service under compulsory competitive tendering.

He added: "Six months later, the company had gone bust so it just shows that our councillors were right to stick their necks out and reject the tender. It was a close shave.

"I very much enjoy my work. I have always enjoyed serving the public and have met a lot of great people. Many of them have become my personal friends.

"I spend a lot of time in the van travelling in some beautiful countryside. It is lovely on a nice day."

Rob is married to 61-year-old Janet, who is retired. Together, they have grown-up children Karen, Kathy and Darren. Rob was proud to give Karen away when she married on Saturday.

Rob has two grandchildren, Isabelle and Finn. He raised £3,500 when he walked 10 miles to thank Birmingham Children's Hospital for repairing a hole in Isabelle's heart.

A lover of cricket, he played for Leek Cricket Club for nine years from the age of 12, now serving on the club's general purposes committee. Also a keen footballer, he kept goal for Leek clubs including Leek CSOB, the Bull's Head and Jester.

He is now looking forward to an official presentation on Tuesday, September 8, which is 40 years to the day since Rob started work.

Councillor Arthur Forrester said: "Staffordshire Moorlands owes a debt of gratitude to Rob for serving the community for so long, turning up year after year in fair weather and foul."