Warning after jobs are wiped out - Grant Carpenter fears rise in graffiti due to cuts in dirt and grime team

A WORKER praised for his role in Camden’s dirt and grime team has warned that the Town Hall will struggle to keep walls free from graffiti and mess after jobs were cut.
 

Grant Carpenter won Camden Council’s internal “Wow Factor!” workers’ award in 2009 and was singled out for praise after delivering snow shovels to stranded residents in his spare time during a winter cold snap.
 

But his marriage hit the rocks and he fell into depression, forcing him to take days off work. 
 

When the 26-year-old returned, he was told his job was not there for him any more.
 

He said: “They knew I was crying my eyes out every day and it’s tough to talk to other fellas about that sort of thing. I’ve never had a proper reason why they asked me to leave.
 

“I never had a written warning. I feel like I have been treated unfairly.”
 

Mr Carpenter said he was in talks with solicitors about taking the council to an employment tribunal. 
 

He warned that restructuring the Town Hall environment department had left the team short on experience and fears that staff will have to work with chemicals they do not properly understand. 
 

Mr Carpenter recalled how during the course of his work he had found dead bodies in supermarket car parks. 
 

He worked a tough beat, trawling Camden’s back streets removing graffiti and clearing used drug needles.
 

He said: “I’ve worked with young people before and I know that the higher your tag is up a wall, the bigger you are. 

“It’s a sensitive issue and you need people who know what they are doing.”
 

Mr Carpenter added: “I loved the job. I have worked all my life and now I’ve had to sign on I feel too embarrassed. 

“But at least watching Jeremy Kyle makes you think your life is not that bad after all.”
 

A council spokeswoman said she would not comment on individual cases.
 

But she added: “There were a number of staff working on fixed-term contracts within the service, in the period leading up to this review, whose contracts were not renewed.”