Where there's muck there's brass, and for dustman Steve Pilbeam that has been true for three generations of his family.

Six members of Steve's clan have dedicated their lives to clearing the streets of Brighton and Hove, clocking up a combined total of about 108 years in the refuse service since the Second World War.

Steve's granddad Harold Saunders started the family tradition when he joined the refuse service at the Hollingdean depot in Brighton in about 1949 after serving in the Army during the war.

Harold spent 20 years pounding the streets throwing metal ash cans over his back and carrying them to the dustcart until his retirement in the late Sixties.

Harold was joined in his daily toil by his brothers Taffy and Peter Saunders, who were also dustmen for the city.

Peter is now in his 70s and Taffy has since died but they would often share tales of life on the dustcart.

When Harold's daughter Joan married Frank Pilbeam, Frank, too, followed in the footsteps of his new family and jumped on the dustcart just weeks after his father-in-law.

Frank joined the service at the Hollingdean depot when he was in his 20s and served for more than 30 years.

He retired in 1979 - but not before giving his son Steve a taste of the job.

The next family member to follow Harold into the rubbish collection service was Frank's brother and Steve's uncle, Roy Pilbeam, who is now 75 and living in sheltered accommodation in the city.

Roy decided to move on to another career after three years.

Steve, 42, of South Road Mews, Brighton, the sixth member of the family to join the service, said his dad Frank had a shaky start to his time in the job after an accident at a property in Maresfield Road in Whitehawk, Brighton.

Steve said: "The first day he started work, he fell down some steps with a heavy ash can on his back.

"He said it wasn't the job for him but he stayed there for 30 years. Perhaps after that start things could only get better."

Steve, who has himself clocked up more than 15 years in the post, got a taste for the job as a teenager.

He said: "I remember going out on the rounds with my dad when I was about 14 and helping him out. You wouldn't be able to do that now because of Health and Safety rules but I was fascinated by the lorry."

When he was a child growing up in Whitehawk, Steve would join the other children running alongside the dustcart and ask for any goodies which may have been thrown out by residents.

Steve said: "Kids still do it now. They ask us if there are any toys for them.

"Boys still seem to be fascinated by the dustcart and want to look in the back."

During his childhood, Steve was a regular guest at the depot's Christmas parties which were held in the same canteen he eats his breakfast in every morning.

He said: "When I was a child I used to go to all the parties and enjoyed it.

"When you are nine or ten you like going to where your dad works."

After Steve left secondary school in Whitehawk, now the college of music and art, he joined the service for a short time in 1978 as a summer temp but did not stay in the job.

He said: "I wanted to do something else so only stayed three months.

"But then I went back in 1987 and have been there ever since.

"It's not a bad job. It pays the bills and the mortgage."

Whenever there were family gatherings, Steve's uncles would tell him the dustmen had an easy job nowadays compared to their time when they had to lift heavy metal bins on their backs.

The bins contained loose rubbish which was not in plastic sacks.

Steve said: "They told me that when they collected the rubbish they would tip it out in the yard at the depot and burn it.

"Apparently they put some of the cinders under Davey Drive when they laid the road."

Steve said the service has changed greatly over the years.

He said there was now much more emphasis on recycling and more people selling their goods at car boot sales instead of throwing them into a bin.

Since Steve joined the service, his dad Frank died at the age of 62 and his mum Joan died five years ago.

He even treads the same streets of Kemp Town in Brighton that his dad was responsible for keeping clean.

However, the family tradition is likely to end with Steve as he has three daughters.

He said: "I can't really see any of them going into the service."