A TODDLER helped a street cleaner get his job back after they formed an unlikely friendship.

Kye Williamson, 3, met the worker, known only as Igor, last Spring in High Road, Leytonstone, after he started working as a street cleaner for council contractor Kier.

Kye and his mother Shelley Williamson, 37, saw Igor every day and developed a friendship.

Although he couldn’t speak English, Ms Williamson communicated with him by writing out messages using a Russian online translation service.

Ms Williamson, of Southwell Grove, wrote to Waltham Forest Council in December asking if Igor could be given an award for his good work, but was told he had returned to his home country after being made redundant.

She said: “We saw him every day, he worked all the time, even when he was sick or the weather was bad. “Then one day just before Christmas, he wasn’t there.

My friend who also knows him from around the area told me that she had seen Igor the day before and he was leaving.

“He had said ‘goodbye, redundant, goodbye, merry Christmas.’

“I just didn’t know how to break the news to Kye. He would jump into his arms when they saw each other and they had developed such a cute bond.

“How do you tell a little boy that he will never see his friend again?”

Ms Williamson then wrote to Cllr Clyde Loakes on our behalf, asking for Igor to be reinstated.

“I never expected to hear anything at all, we thought he was gone forever, which was such a shame because everyone here loves him,” she said.

“Then in January I received an email saying Igor had been given his job back. Kye was so happy, he looked out for him every day.

“When Kye spotted him he ran up into his arms and they gave each other a massive hug. It was such a cute moment.

“Now we are back to seeing Igor every day; he deserves his job, he works so hard and everyone in the area loves him. His lovely face brightens up your day.”