Bryan Rowe, a 21-year-old man with ADHD and myotonic dystrophy, has been rejected three times for a binman position with Southampton City Council, despite completing a nine-month unpaid internship with the council. He worked as a lorry loader during the internship, which ran from November 2024 to June 2025.
Mr Rowe, who has wanted to be a binman since childhood, was encouraged to apply for vacancies after his internship. However, he was rejected on three occasions. After the second rejection, the council emailed to say an error had led to incorrect information being sent to applicants. The third rejection prompted his mother, Claire Rowe, to describe the decision as “cruel and unfair”.
Ms Rowe said: “You were better off saying no and letting us be done with it, now they've kicked him back in the teeth again. I find that hard to take as his mother that has spent the weekend trying to explain to him that he is good enough.” She added: “He is devastated, it's absolutely awful. I just cannot believe that this has happened again.”
A spokesperson for Southampton City Council told the Mirror: “We received a high volume of applications for the advertised role; however, we cannot comment on individual applications or candidates. All the applications and interviews have followed the council's recruitment process. We wish all of the unsuccessful candidates well in their future endeavours.”
Ms Rowe has raised a formal complaint with the council and was told it is reviewing its recruitment services. “He worked for free for nine months, he was always enthusiastic and on time,” she said. “How are people meant to get enough experience?”
