THE thought of rats running riot, rotting rubbish and human excrement is enough to make anyone shudder.
But that’s just a normal day's work for waste removal experts Oli Dunkley, 27, and Cam Simpson, 26, from Bromsgrove, West Midlands.
They are tasked with cleaning out grubby flats left by runaway renters, hoarders' stashes and gag-inducing garbage few of us could imagine.
While the "partners in grime" insist “no job is too big or too small” even they have been shocked by smelly and disgusting discoveries.
It’s a filthy business for certain and now the duo, who are set to star in new BBC documentary Filthy Business, tell us all about it.
The dirt-busting duo “don’t mind getting dirty” but a few horrific jobs still haunt them to this day.
“Nothing surprises us anymore but the shock factor is always there,” Cam, of C&C Waste Management, told The Sun.
“The thing I hate having to deal with is human filth. The grimmest thing we found was a box of human poo during a garden clearance.
“While I’m glad the excrement was contained, it smelled horrid and stank out our cage trailer for days.
“It was one of those things where we didn't want to ask questions, ignorance is bliss I guess.
"I think they tipped us to say sorry for what we went through.”
Even business co-founder Oli struggled to deal with the stench and he grew up living around "foul smells on a farm".
He added: “You think to yourself, it surely can’t get worse than that.”
Working in removals requires nerves of steel, as Cam found out while clearing out a house that was abandoned by former tenants.
He said: “I remember the house stank and outside, I spotted a hole that looked like something had chewed its way through.
“Later while we were stripping out the last of the cabinets something fell out onto the floor.
"The next thing I knew a rat ran up my leg and then raced out of the house.
“I ran away too. I left that property quick time. I don’t think anyone has ever seen me move so fast!”
Later, Cam was told that tenants had been feeding the rat, which helped to grow to "at least a foot-long".
Oli and Cam anticipated "an easy job" before they set off to a hoarder's house to remove "a few piles of rubbish" – but when they arrived it was a completely different story.
“I went to a hoarder’s house and I’ve never seen anything worse than that, we were really thrown in at the deep end," Oli said.
“We thought it would take a couple of days to clear out but it took around eight days because it was just jammed full of rubbish.
"It was full from the floor to the ceiling, filled with old toys, collectibles, tools, magazines and more.
“It was an organised mess but there were so many piles of it, everything had been pushed further and further back.
“We took away the outer shell of the rubbish and were like ‘Oh no, oh no!’ because there were even more stacks hidden behind it."
Ahead of one job for a family friend, Oli and Cam were told about “a couple of bees” flying around the area – but nothing would prepare them for what happened next.
“When we started taking down the shed we spotted a few bees but the further and further in we got, more and more of them emerged,” Oli recalled.
“We removed one piece of plasterboard and then bang, we were faced with five beehives and hundreds of them flying at us.
“We had a big guy nicknamed ‘Chunk’ working for us that day and we’ve never seen him run away so fast.
“He ran outside so many times during those two days that I think he’s now the world record holder for the five-metre dash.
“We had to call in pest control to help us and what started off as a two-day job turned into three.”
While clearing out a garage for someone who had passed away the duo made a surprising discovery.
“We went into the workshop and found a 14inch dildo. We definitely didn't expect that,” Cam explained.
“We decided not to tell the person who hired us for the job in case they were embarrassed and have kept it to ourselves… until now!”
The most shocking sights have been from end-of-tenancy clearances where people have “done a runner”, they explain.
Cam said: “Some of the properties and flats are left in such a state that you have to question whether it’s possible renting them out again.”
But sometimes, there are rewarding jobs too where the duo know they have changed someone’s life for the better.
Cam recalled: “We did a high-rise block of flats after lockdown and there was this poor lady, who was unable to leave her home for up to 16 months.
“Because of Covid, her social worker hadn’t been able to visit and so she had to put all of her rubbish on her concrete balcony.
“It was filled to the brim with bin bags, kitchen waste and all kinds of stuff - there must have been at least 100 bags that had been there for up to 16 months.”
Oli and Cam described the smell that wafted from the balcony as “fairly grim” but added that they were happy to help someone in need.
“It had been there that long that the bin bags had started to decompose and the liquids from it splashed down our arms and legs,” Oli said.
In the two years of business, there have been a number of big jobs for the boys including ones at zoos, private properties and hotels.
But one of the hardest was knocking down a shed that had been reinforced so many times that it was “nearly indestructible”.
“It was one of those jobs where it wasn't as easy to take down as we first thought. It was crazy,” Cam explained.
“The elderly customer, who had dementia, used to work as a mechanical engineer and he had triple-layered every part of the shed with bricks, metal and bolts.
“Every time he reinforced it became even stronger, it was nearly indestructible, and even survived Storm Eunice.”
Another tricky task was knocking down a former World War 2 bunker, which took around three days to destroy.
“We turned up with a few sledgehammers and thought we had a simple and light demolition job on our hands,” Oli said.
“We couldn’t have been more wrong. Cam couldn’t move for three days after we finished because he was so sore.”
Oli and Cam star in Filthy Business, which is available to watch at 8pm on July 11 on BBC Three or to stream on BBC iPlayer. To find out more about C&C Waste Management visit: www.candcwaste.com.
OLI and Cam’s journey to turn rubbish removal into a profitable business will be aired in the BBC doc Filthy Business, which airs on July 11.
The duo, who met while playing rugby as kids, were advised to “never work together” but now are proving the naysayers wrong.
Cam said: “During our most difficult time, we lost a £50,000 job at the last minute and had to make £7,000 in one month to keep the company going.
“We went from having nothing to 28 jobs that month. We’ve made a lot of sacrifices - at one point I didn’t see my girlfriend for several weeks because I was working so late.”
After countless 12-hour shifts, that’s now a reality and they hope to continue growing their “baby”.
Oli said: “For most people, the last two years have been the worst of their lives but for me - without wanting to sound distasteful - it’s probably been my best two years.
“We’ve worked really hard to grow something out of nothing and I’m really proud of what we have achieved.
“I get to work with my best friend every day on something that’s really rewarding and thanks to our determination I can’t see it slowing down any time soon.”
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