Grime busters inspired by popular crime drama CSI

Criss-crossing Scotland, the Moodiesburn-based grime busters deal with everything from the disturbing to the downright disgusting.

Whether it’s cleaning up a property after a tragic undiscovered death or digging in drug dens for discarded hypodermic needles, Marie and Co are equipped for the dirtiest of dirty work.

It all began when Marie started looking for a new niche after she took over the recession-hit cleaning business started by her late dad Johnny.

Her fascination with US crime drama CSI sparked an idea to find out just who dealt with Scotland’s most grizzly scenes and her new plan began to take shape.

Following specialist biohazard training, Marie and partner in grime, best friend Lesley Wright, travel all over Scotland together, their long-standing friendship helping them deal with some of the distressing aspects of the job, like clearing up at death scenes.

Marie says: ‘People think the police automatically send someone in. They don’t.

“The families are given keys and told they need to clean up, but it’s probably best they don’t go in. It adds to people’s trauma. You 
don’t want the family to see that. I feel better if that’s all gone.”

Lesley has her own way of dealing with the emotional after-effects: “I like to light a wee candle for the dead person just out of respect. To show them that even though we’re touching their belongings and we’re strangers, we still respect them.”

Cleaning up a workplace sewage spill or sweeping the streets at a festival might all be in a day’s work for the queens of clean, but as well as the heavy-duty cases, they also deal with challenging scenes of domestic chaos.

Marie and Lesley are currently training up the company’s newest recruit – Marie’s daughter Rhiannon.

They will feature on a new BBC One Scotland documentary ‘Grime Scene Queens’, which viewers can catch tonight, Wednesday, February 10, at 10.40pm.