20,000 pieces of gum cleared

A street cleaner has revealed his team scrubbed an incredible 20,000 pieces of chewing gum off the pavements of a north-east town in just 20 days.

Ian Page, who runs Inverurie-based gutter cleaning service Gutterz, has spent the past three weeks pressure washing the streets of Fraserburgh with his team.

Contracted by Aberdeenshire Council to do the job, the clean-up is part of on-going efforts to regenerate the heart of the town centre.

Mr Page and his team use high pressure steam and water heated to 150 degrees to strip accumulated dirt and gum off paving slabs.

“We’ve been doing a deep clean of Fraserburgh town centre as part of the regeneration,” the 40-year-old said. “That’s what the public asked for.

“Hopefully it will bring more pride into the town centre”

“In Saltoun Square we were there three days solid removing chewing gum. It takes about two and a half seconds to take a piece up.”

Mr Page estimates that in 20 days his crew has collected around 20,000 pieces of discarded gum. The team also cleaned out some of the gutting around the town and discovered a crisp packet dating back to 1986.

“That tells you how much it’s needed. We’ve had phenomenal feedback. Some people have said it’s like when Marischal College was given a face lift.

“Hopefully it will bring a bit more pride to the town centre. It’s been a huge transformation.”

Fraserburgh is one of Aberdeenshire Council’s four regeneration towns, along with fellow coastal settlements Banff, Macduff and Peterhead.