Boy George says sweeping the streets wasn't that bad

Boy George, the flamboyant pop singer and DJ, yesterday described the moment he told his mother that he was to become a street cleaner.

The musician was forced to sweep the streets of New York to complete five days of community service after being found guilty of wasting police time by falsely reporting a burglary at his New York apartment.

His mother, once a cleaner herself, offered to do the stint for him, the singer revealed.

"She gets worried about things and on the first day I called her and I just said, 'Am I bothered?' She asked, 'Who is it?' and I just said, 'Just ask if I'm bothered'," he said.

He spoke of his close relationship to her, and how she is his greatest confidante.

"I'm a nightmare, I tell her everything. She still gets shocked by the things I do. My mum wanted to come out and help me.

"She hears things in the news and people ring her up and tell her, 'Boy George is doing this or that'," he added.

He said one of the most painful aspects of his sentence to clean the streets was the prospect of wearing an unsightly uniform, but that in the end, he enjoyed the experience.

"At first I thought I would have to wear an orange boiler suit. I don't look good in orange or a boiler suit with my short legs.

"I was treated really nicely, it was worth it. I quite enjoyed it really. I was p****d off to start with but people were jumping out of manholes to see me and being really nice. So many people came to see me.

"The trick is just to do your job. You get tea breaks and stuff. It can be a real laugh. New York is so clean now you could eat your dinner off its streets. I'll do London next, but I'll charge this time," he said.

The pop star was speaking at the launch of his comeback single at the Met Bar in central London, where he performed a duet, Time Machine, which is his first commercial single in eight years.

Boy George, who is best known as the former lead singer in the 80s band, Culture Club, last month spoke about how the community service helped to ground his chaotic lifestyle.

"It's been quite grounding, because I have no structure in my life.

"The media has this image of me as this big faggot sitting on cushions all day eating grapes. But I'm a real person - I have a Hoover, I don't have a cleaner. So the idea that I can't pick up a broom and shovel is ridiculous. The hard work was good for me. You just get on with it," he said.

The star originally reported a burglary last year but police officers found no sign of a break-in, instead discovering near-empty bags of cocaine littered around his apartment.

George later admitted wasting police time and the drug possession charge was dropped. He was sent into rehab, fined £600 and ordered to spend a week cleaning the streets of New York.

He had suggested DJ-ing at an Aids charity fundraiser or staging a fashion show for his community service but Judge Anthony Ferrara told him cleaning the streets would be: "Either an exercise in humiliation or humility. You decide."

- INDEPENDENT