'Hero' window cleaner, 21, earns online fan-base after spending hours of his free time scrubbing filthy road signs in his home town to save drivers' lives

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A young window cleaner has become an online sensation after scrubbing more than 80 grubby road signs in his spare time - and claims his sparkling efforts have saved countless motorists' lives.

Liam Wildish, 21, was inspired to start cleaning traffic signs in February after noticing that many were so caked in dirt, they were impossible for drivers to read.

Since then, he has spent hours meticulously polishing dozens of grimy road signs around his hometown of Retford, Nottinghamshire.

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Window cleaner Liam Wildish has become an online sensation after scrubbing more than 80 dirty road signs in his spare time. He reckons his efforts have saved many motorists' lives

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The 21-year-old was inspired to start cleaning traffic signals in his hometown of Retford, Nottinghamshire in February after noticing some were so filthy that they were impossible for drivers to read

Mr Wildish usually uses a water-fed pole system to deep clean the traffic signs, claiming he often scrapes years' worth of mud and grime from them

The entrepreneur even picks up rubbish too and so far has rid the town of thousands of tonnes of litter - as well as reaching global stardom online for his efforts.

A video of his cleaning efforts has garnered more than 5million views after being posted on Facebook. 

He said: 'I noticed there were a lot of dirty signs in and around Retford, and it began from there.

'I wanted to give something back to the community. I would say so far I've cleaned about 80 signs.

'It definitely makes a big difference to the safety of motorists around the town as the signs are much easier to read once the dirt is scraped off.

'I've tried to target the dirtiest signs but also those near to residential areas and schools. It's nice to drive past a sign knowing that I've cleaned it.

I've been called a hero but I'm pretty humble. I just want to give back to the place where I've lived my whole life.

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He has spent hours cleaning the signs and said he's determined to carry on cleaning them no matter what as he believes his local council doesn't do a good enough job maintaining signs in areas near schools and where elderly people live

'My girlfriend Sarah thinks I'm bonkers but she's really supportive of me.'

Mr Wildish cleans the signs in between driving to window-cleaning customers - for which he covers a 30 mile radius - but also in his free time.

He mainly uses a water-fed pole system to deep clean the traffic signs, claiming he often scrapes years' worth of mud and grime from them before picking up rubbish discarded by passing drivers.

To date, he has spent hours cleaning the signs and said he's determined to carry on cleaning them no matter what as he believes his local council doesn't do a good enough job maintaining signs in areas near schools and where elderly people live.

'My girlfriend Sarah thinks I'm bonkers but she's really supportive of me,' said the hero window cleaner (pictured above with Sarah)

Mr Wildish, who left school at 16 with seven GCSEs, set up his business after working in sales for different window-cleaning companies before he decided he wanted to go solo

Mr Wildish, who set up window-washing business Clean Scene Window Cleaning in August last year, said: 'The 40mph signs on one road in Retford were probably the dirtiest signs I've done.

'They had about 4 millimetres of algae growing on them, which made them literally invisible at night.

'It's bad that the signs aren't adequately maintained. The state of some of the signs could definitely increase the risk of serious road traffic accidents or worse.

'Cleaning them could not only reduce the risk to the public but also make the area look nicer too.'

Liam (above, aged eight) has big aspirations of becoming a millionaire in the future - but also plans to continue cleaning the signs and has even had volunteers come forward to help him while he's out and about

Mr Wildish, who left school at 16 with seven GCSEs, set up his business after working in sales for different window-cleaning companies before he decided he wanted to go solo.

He has big aspirations of becoming a millionaire in the future - but also plans to continue cleaning the signs and has even had volunteers come forward to help him while he's out and about.

Mr Wildish said: 'I always wanted my own business, I've always been ambitious but I never really knew what I wanted to do.

'After doing sales for window cleaners I decided to have a go myself. It's been going really well so far. We've quadrupled in size over the last few months. 

'In ten years I want to be a multimillionaire. I'm not afraid to say that, it's my goal and if you want to dream, you want to dream big.'

Councillor John Cottee, chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council's Communities & Place Committee, which is responsible for maintaining the signs, said: 'The County Council is responsible for maintaining more than 35,000 road signs the length and breadth of the county.

'All our highways are inspected at least once every year and any signs which become obscured or illegible are picked up through that process, but it is clear that Liam's additional efforts are having a positive impact in the Retford area.

'Legally we must point out that anyone undertaking such activity does so voluntarily and entirely at their own risk, but we applaud Liam for his public-spirited approach.' 

Mr Wildish said: 'I've been called a hero but I'm pretty humble. I just want to give back to the place where I've lived my whole life'