It’s not often you’ll find somebody beaming and laughing after rising at 2:45am each morning for work.

With our dedicated sweeper operator Daryl, that’s exactly what you’ll get every day.

Starting with us 32 years ago mowing lawns, his journey has seen him take to our streets in a quest to keep the city clean of debris and other unwelcome matter.

Committed to keeping our streets spotless, a 4am start is all in a day’s work.

“I get up about quarter to 3 in the morning, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I love it,” he said.

“We do our morning run, go back and empty and fill up with water, then get ready for another start at 7am when we’ll do other projects as well.

“There is an eerie sense to it in the morning, but I’m used to it, you just have to be really careful when working alone.”

Main roads start the early morning run with local streets from a modest 7am.

A new street sweeper machine allows him to move efficiently through the City and spray high-pressure water to clean paths, optimising the morning run.

If you’re up early enough for that morning run and see Daryl sweeping through, be sure to give him a smile and a wave.