She’s a fresh-faced blonde and, according to her boss, is “a ray of sunshine”.

Kimberley Miners has become a familiar face among shoppers and workers strolling through Bradford’s city centre streets.

With her plaited ponytail and glamorous looks, the former model turns heads – even more so when she’s spotted driving her ride-on sweeper machine clearing rubbish from the city’s streets.

It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it... and due to equality in the workplace, men no longer have the monopoly on these once male-dominated careers.

Kimberley loves her job, and would like more women to join the rest of her female colleagues in Bradford Council’s cleansing department.

The 20-year-old’s mother, Patricia, introduced her to the job – she works in the admin side of the department.

Kimberley talked to her mum after spotting an advertisement for a street sweeper. She was 16 when she took the position, and trained on the job, dealing with everything from rubbish to grounds maintenance.

She had wanted to be a photographer and considered taking media studies.

She admits she’s more of a lady than a ladette. “I am a girly girl. I like clothes and shoe shopping,” she says.

The former model is used to looking glamorous when she goes out, but when Monday arrives, she is happy to pull on her fluorescent overalls and swap her ‘girly’ wheels – a Renault Clio – for the nifty sweeper she drives around Bradford’s streets.

And it seems she takes her work home. “My boyfriend thinks I’ve got OCD because I’m always cleaning at home,” she laughs.

Aside from the satisfaction she gets cleaning streets, Kimberley loves being outdoors. “You are out in the fresh air, you get to meet new people and you are doing something good,” she says.

She says most people appreciate seeing a woman doing what was once predominantly a man’s role.

“One woman came up and said she’d had to drive a tractor at 14,” she recalls.

Kimberley’s boss, John Doherty, says: “She is unique. She’s a bubbly character... she’s a ray of sunshine.”

He says Kimberley is hoping to promote equal opportunity in the workplace. “I think people think it is a male-dominated workforce, but it’s not; it’s open to everybody,” says John.

He says driving the sweeper is another string to Kimberley’s bow, and he hopes it will encourage other women to pursue the profession too.

Kimberley hopes to embark on a management course later this year to further her career.

Her advice to women wanting to work in a job that was once a man’s world is to “give as good as you get!”.

“It’s therapeutic and I get job satisfaction when you can see what you’ve done. I love it,” she adds.

Anybody wanting to follow Kimberley into this kind of career should contact their local employment agency. Training is given on the job.