TODAY is International Women’s Day . . . and two local career women are happy to prove that there’s no such thing as a man’s world at work any more.

Sarah Hobson drives a bin lorry, and Agnieska Gorzynska is both a security guard and a champion arm wrestler.

Sarah, aged 35, works for Fresh Start Waste Management, based in Astley, which sponsors Agnieska and has named the 30th vehicle in its fleet of lorries after her.

Former Co-op supervisor Sarah, of Manchester Road, Clifton, drives a 28,000 kg bin lorry, collecting glass and card for recycling from private companies. Her career-change into professional driving began three years ago when she started delivering car parts in a van across Greater Manchester.

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She said: “Driving has always come naturally to me. I wanted to be an HGV driver but I wanted to know if I would enjoy driving all day before I did the training.”

After 16 lessons she passed her HGV driving test first time and started her bin lorry driving job last November, which also involves a lot of heavy lifting. Nicola McGrath, CEO at Fresh Start, thinks Sarah might be the only woman waste lorry driver in Britain.

Sarah said: “I think women make better drivers than men. We observe things more, we are more cautious and we have a point to prove as well.

“A lot of men are surprised to see me in the bin lorry driving seat. They look up and think: ‘Is that really a woman that I can see?’ But I get a great reaction from men colleagues. And they don’t treat me as someone who isn’t as strong.

“I hope that when women see another woman already in this role, it will inspire them and give them the confidence to try it for themselves. The job is really interesting. There is no day I can say I am bored.”

Agnieska Gorzynska is a world champion arm wrestler and has been crowned British champion five times in a row.

The married 46-year-old is a trained butcher and moved to the UK from Poland, working in Yorkshire before relocating to Chorlton and becoming a security guard at Media City.

She trains at Leigh Pulling Power and routinely deadlifts 130kg and bench lifts 80kg.

“Between shifts I started arm wrestling with colleagues for fun. They said that I was really strong and that I should take it up.

“I first started competing seven years ago. There weren’t as many women competing back then. I like encouraging girls into the sport as it’s often not something they’ve thought of doing. You don’t have to be big. A lot of the best female arm wrestlers are very slight, but are strong.

“It was a big surprise to have the truck named after me. It’s really nice to get the recognition and Fresh Start has helped cover costs of getting to championships.”

And there’s a chance that Agy could one day become a household name and British Olympic hero. She said: “It’s possible that arm wrestling will be included in the 2024 Olympic Games. If I’m competing and selected, I’ll be proud to represent GB.”