High powered machine blasts chewing gum plaque in town centre.

Published by webmaster for St Helens Council in Communities

As shoppers leave St. Helens town centre at night a special machine is being moved in to tackle the problem of discarded chewing gum.

St. Helens Council has brought in experts Index Cleaning UK to deal with the problem of removing the hard to rid stains on pavements.

Research reveals that councils can spend over £20,000 a year on clearing chewing gum off pavements which, according to environmental watchdog Encams, affects 67% of all areas.

St. Helens Council has stepped up its campaign to raise awareness of discarding chewing gum, cigarettes and other litter and warn that it will give out on the spot fines.  Under current legislation on the spot fines are £75 while, if the case goes to court, it can cost the offender up to £1,000.

Says Councillor Carole Kavanagh, Executive Member for Environmental Protection:  “Twenty million people consume more than 935 million packs of chewing gum a year in the UK.

There is no need to spit chewing gum on the pavement in the first place.  Wrap it up in the silver wrapper it was bought with and throw it into a street litterbin, or take it home. If every body took responsibility for their own litter and took it home with them, we would all be living in clean streets and there wouldn’t be a problem.”

Ends

Press release issued: January 24 2007