A Newham road sweeper’s star is on the rise after he was chosen to take part in an Olympic TV advert.

Working for Newham Council for just under a year, Anthony Hughes, 47, can normally be found working along the Barking Road.

But now he can also be seen starring in ‘Here’s to the Home Team’, Olympic Games sponsor BP’s new TV advert featuring the real workers and volunteers behind London 2012 alongside major athletes such as Jessica Ennis and Lizzie Armitstead.

Anthony, from Plaistow, first discovered BP were looking for a road sweeper when a colleague handed him a leaflet.

He took a chance and emailed in a picture of himself with his young daughters before being invited for an audition in central London.

Anthony said: “They phoned me back and said we like what we saw and then I had to go for a second casting in Soho.

“They handed me a stick and asked me to just to sweep like I normally do, it came quite naturally to me.”

After two days of filming, Anthony eventually saw his TV debut which provoked an excitable reaction from his daughters.

Anthony said: “My girls loved it. They were jumping up and down shouting, ‘Daddy! You’re on telly!’”

Anthony added: “A lot of adverts are just actors but they don’t show events behind the scenes.

“I liked that they used real people because people just think a big company comes in and it all gets done.

“But that’s not the point. About five or six people do my section of the road, cleaning it up all day.

“During the Olympics, more and more people will be showing up and we don’t want them to come to east London and think it’s a mess.

“We’re going to be one of the first places they see so we have to make sure the streets are as clean as they can be.”

Anthony, who works a 2pm to 10pm shift, says he has already been recognised by a local shopkeeper.

Anthony said: “He said to me, ‘Are you on that Olympic advert?’ and I said ‘Yeah, that’s me. I haven’t got a star the back of my jacket yet but these things take time.’”

Watch Anthony in ‘Here’s to the Home Team’ at www.youtube.com/user/bplondon2012?feature=watch.