IRONING, the household chore so many hate, has come to the rescue of Army veteran Stacey Cresswell, from Rowde.

After being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, the 44-year-old, of Ferris Close, opened the doors to his new ironing company, The I-Team, in the Bath Road Business Centre two months ago, and business has been booming ever since.

“Ironing is something I enjoy as I can just zone out and get on with it. I don’t take orders from anyone else anymore, I am my own boss.” said Mr Cresswell.

“I started doing it from home about 18 months ago to keep my mind off my epilepsy diagnosis and my PTSD. I lost my driving licence after being diagnosed with epilepsy and lost my job in sales because of it."

The father-of-three, who originally comes from Newcastle, served in the Royal Artillery from 16 until the age of 25. Six months before leaving the army he met his wife Brigette, originally from Rowde. Since leaving the army he suffered from bouts of depression.

“I am currently seeing Combat Stress and South West Veterans at Green Lane in Devizes. This job just helps me keep my mind off of everything. It started with me advertising in six local magazines and from that I started receiving calls. There are always adverts for house cleaning and other similar jobs, but none for ironing. There really was a gap in the market,” added Mr Cresswell.

Once a month Mr Cresswell also holds a coffee morning for forces veterans.

The I-Team is open from 9.30am-5pm, Monday to Friday, and details on the business and prices can be found at www.i-teamironing.com.