Help pay to clean streets, chewing gum firms told

A MAJOR campaign has been launched against the £60milliona-year scourge of discarded chewing gum which stains Britain’s streets.

Council chiefs want sweet manufacturers to help meet the cost of cleaning pavements blighted by trodden-in gum.

They claim environmental health departments have to pay cleansing bills which are 50 times the cost of a gum stick.

Pressure group Keep Britain Tidy found recently that 99 per cent of Britain’s high streets are stained.

Demands for confectionery companies to pay their share were made by the Local Government Association.

Judith Blake, the group’s environment spokeswoman, said: “Chewing gum is a plague on our pavements. It’s ugly, it’s unsightly and it’s unacceptable.

“At a time when councils face considerable funding pressures, this is a growing cost they could do without.

“It is therefore reasonable to expect chewing gum manufacturers to help more. Councils have no legal obligation to clear up the gum. They do it for the benefit of their shoppers, town centre users, businesses and residents – to make the pavements more attractive and the environment better.

“Councils want to work with the industry to find solutions to this ongoing problem. The industry needs to go a lot further, and faster, in tackling this issue.”

The LGA, which represents 370 councils in England and Wales, also wants manufacturers to switch to easy-to-clean biodegradable gums.

The say the money they spend could be diverted to more beneficial projects, such as the repair of thousands of potholes.

South Tyneside Council spends £104,000 annually cleaning up gum, while Chelmsford Council, in Essex, lays out £68,000.

Merton Council, south London, has circled more than 600 offending blobs in Sutton’s high street and designed a poster that can be used to wrap up discarded gum.