IT's a dirty job, but someone's had to do it and until now, that's been Barden's Geoff Neale.

Geoff, 50, has swept the soot from thousands of Dales chimneys in the 14 years he's been in the area, taking plenty of the black stuff home for his wife to cope with on washing days.

But after 26 years of peering into sooty holes he is digressing into another business - stove, multi-fuel and fireplace fitting - which, paradoxically, involves peering into sooty, black holes, and creating almost as much washing for his wife!

"I thought it was about time to hand it over to someone younger," explained Geoff.

He said he had enjoyed the job, even the time his brushes melted when one of the chimneys he was sweeping was on fire (he didn't know at the time). He's even had the occasional irate bird fly out at him.

His new business, Bolton Abbey Stoves will be run from his Barden home and involves supplying and/or fitting a whole range of stoves, spare parts, flue linings and fireplaces.

Geoff is now writing to all his old customers to thank them for their business in the past and to ask them to continue supporting his successor, Pete the Sweep, alias Mark Leicester, from Harrogate.

"Pete" will cover the same area of the Dales and can be reached on Geoff's old number, 0800 430900. Geoff's new number is 720337 or 07740066224.

Meanwhile, readers can see Mark on television tonight (Friday) when he appears on The Weakest Link.