A three-year-old from St Ives who regularly chats with her local refuse collectors and leaves cards and pictures out for them has had a dustcart named after her.
Imogen Wilson, of Freston Close, was invited with her mum, Laura Wilson, to Huntingdon refuse collection offices on Friday and was given a big surprise when greeted with a dustcart that had been named after her.
Imogen was invited to look around the offices and then shown the cart, which will now be named Imogen Bella, and is the same dustcart that visits her estate on Fridays.
Mum Laura said: “She loves the dustbin people. She leaves them pictures and cards on the bins and chats to them. They all know her name and take the time to talk to her.
“One guy told me to write to the council asking for a truck to be named after her, I did this thinking nothing would happen, but Andrew Rogan [of Huntingdonshire District Council] got straight back to me and said they would love to name a truck after her.
“I thought it was a great idea, with baby number two due very soon it was something special just for Imogen.
“We headed to their office and were greeted at the door. We were shown round the office and all the different machines.
“We then had to look for a special truck, when we turned the corner they had taken the time to find the truck that does our estate’s collection to name, decorated it with balloons and made her a goody bag.
“People took time out to come and look and all of them knew her name. She got to sit in the cab and pick a balloon.
“Everyone knew her name and took the time out to say ‘hello’ to her.”
A spokesman for Huntingdonshire District Council said: “After receiving a much appreciated message sent in on behalf of a “big fan” of our waste collection crews, local resident Imogen Bella, our refuse/recycling team arranged for one of our trucks to be named after her.
“After the crews had returned from their collections on June 22, a naming ceremony was held and Imogen Bella joined us to welcome her truck to the fleet. Imogen always looks forward to seeing the collection crews turn up every week and visited our depot with her mum and grandad.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here