HAVE mop, will clean up - in more ways than one.

Adam Stapley and his wife, Trudy, are continuing to prove this, as their Marton-based house cleaning service, Mopportunities, spreads rapidly throughout the villages surrounding York.

There are now 70 houses on their books serviced by a staff of ten well-vetted housekeepers, and, at this rate, by June the couple will be taking on four more people to clean a total of 100 homes.

"Our expansion within a 50-mile radius has been phenomenal," said Adam, who was made redundant as business development manager for Whitbread looking after wine shops and cafs, when the company was sold.

"Other people in the trade concentrate on offices, but there are few who specialise in private houses yet the demand for diligent cleaners is immense.

"We clean house for a huge range of people, from some who are in their 90s or disabled, to people who go to work and don't have time to clean their homes to any standard."

The Stapleys take a small profit margin, paying their cleaners £7 an hour while charging £9 per hour, but the demand is for nothing short of excellence.

If they have one problem it's lack of flexibility.

"We would like to move housekeepers around to accommodate everyone, but some refuse to change their housekeeper. They become part of the family."

Updated: 11:04 Friday, March 05, 2004