Funding to help remove chewing gum from city streets

Funding has been secured to help remove chewing gum from streets in Nottingham.

The city council will also use £27,500 from the Keep Britain Tidy Chewing Gum Task Force to launch a public awareness campaign, designed to stop people littering gum.

The Labour-run authority said cleaning work would take place on a number of streets in the city centre, including Friar Lane, Beastmarket Hill, Angel Row, Wheeler Gate and Exchange Walk.

Councillor Sam Lux, executive member for climate, energy and nature at the council, said: "Removing gum is hard and expensive, so this investment will be a big help."

The council will use the funding for specialist chewing gum removal equipment and staffing costs.

The awareness campaign which will also be funded will involve new signs being put up in the city and stencil markings aimed at reducing littering.

Lux added: "The project will allow us to remove a lot of existing gum from our city centre streets and also prevent future gum staining with new signage encouraging the public to think twice before littering.

"We are looking forward to seeing a cleaner city centre for Nottingham people, visitors and businesses."

The council is one of 50 authorities nationally that successfully applied to the task force, a national scheme established by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and administered by Keep Britain Tidy.

According to the city council, previous rounds of the programme found gum littering dropped by 86% in the first two months after cleaning and public awareness campaigns were introduced.

It said reductions were still being seen six months later.

Newark and Sherwood District Council has also been awarded funding as part of the campaign.

The authority announced it would be receiving £27,366 from the task force.

Paul Taylor, the council's portfolio holder for public protection and community relations, said: "Alongside targeted cleaning, this initiative is also about encouraging long-term behaviour change.

"By raising awareness and promoting responsible disposal, we can all play a part in protecting our local environment."

Allison Ogden-Newton, Keep Britain Tidy chief executive, said: "While chewing gum litter remains a stubborn eyesore in our public spaces, the good news is that this scheme is already driving major improvements."

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