WOMEN across Lewisham and Greenwich are desperate to employ a firm of painters and decorators which prides itself on being house-trained.

Its employees do not leave the toilet seat up, they clean-up perfectly and have never contemplated rifling through an unsuspecting client's knicker drawer.

The reason for the Catford-based company's success is it employs an all-female team, proving a woman's place is in the home in a male-dominated industry.

Manager of Hughes and Hume, Olivia Hughes, 32, of Ravensbourne Park, set up the business 10 years ago because she found it difficult to get work and be taken seriously, due to her sex.

Now it has have six permanent members of staff, including one man, and a number of part-time staff. It does more than 100 jobs-a-year, mainly in private homes in south east London and Kent.

Miss Hughes said: "We all run our own houses so we know what a nightmare it is if workers leave a mess, so we are tidier than a lot of male workers."