by Dan Bloom

dbloom@thekmgroup.co.uk

He may be 83, but all George Gibbs wants is a job.

The former van driver has spent more than a year looking for one, and it's been his longest time without work since he was 13.

One of Britain's oldest job-seekers, he's even defied doctors' orders to give up due to his arthritis.

He said: "It's been murder being at home with nothing to do. It's hell to get a job at my age but I'll keep trying."

Unwilling to compete at the Jobcentre, the pensioner from Snodland has been driving across Kent looking for work since last year.

Yet he has felt the full impact of the recession as only one firm, a catalogue delivery firm in Chatham, offered to take him on.

He said: "Most people say no as soon as they hear my age. I saw this sign in the High Street and asked if there was any age limit.

"They said no, there wasn't, but they said I'd have to deliver up to 100 catalogues a day. I would be racing about and it sounded a bit too much for me."

Born in Camberwell, Mr Gibbs left school at 14 to work on ships for the London and Rochester Trading Company.

Soon the tireless job hunter, of Saltings Road, joined the RAF and Grenadier Guards before driving a bus for the Maidstone and District bus company.

It was contract driving which became his main career, until he had to scrap his blue Ford Transit van last March.

"I'd never make a written application," he said.

"I'd just call in and ask if they wanted drivers.

"It always worked but now it's the hardest it's ever been."

The pensioner is a firm believer in the unemployed getting on their bikes for work, once mooted by Conservative minister Norman Tebbitt.

"People aren't doing that enough now," he said.

"So many people are living on benefits and they get used to it. I hope that doesn't happen to me."

Mr Gibbs, who has never been married, was four days from his wedding when he got cold feet at the age of 24.

Since then he has had no regrets, devoting himself to driving instead.

"Work has been the only big part of my life since I was 14," he said.

"I have arthritis in my knees and neck now. The doctor told me to take it easy, but I'm happy."

Can you give George a job? Call our newsroom on 01634 227880.