£8K grant to rid St Albans Road of 'nightmare' chewing gum

Targeted street cleaning and new signs are part of an effort to clean up St Albans Road which Watford Borough Council is putting in place after it successful applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force for funding.

Established by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, the Chewing Gum Task Force Grant Scheme is handing out up to £10 million to councils over five years.

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The money comes major gum manufacturers such as Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle while more than 35 St Albans Road businesses have agreed to promote the scheme.

One such business is the Cother Arms, where Tanya Bunting has been pleased to see the stickers and signs going up to remind people to bin their gum.

(Image: Watford Borough Council) “The chewing gum is a nightmare to be honest,” the landlady said. “There is nothing worse - we even get it in the pub - when you get it on your clothes or on your shoe and you tread it somewhere else.”

She added: “I feel sorry for the council having to clean St Albans Road with all the stuff that gets dumped.”

Participating councils have apparently seen 60 per cent reductions in gum littering in the first two months, which Watford mayor Peter Taylor is hoping to replicate.

Chewing gum being cleared. (Image: Watford Borough Council) The Lib Dem mayor said: “We are incredibly thankful for the funding to help us remove chewing gum from St Albans Road.

“A special thanks to the local businesses who have shown their support by displaying campaign signage in their windows.

“This collective effort will allow us to clean up our local areas and invest in long-term behaviour change to prevent gum from being dropped in the first place.”

Councillors promoting the scheme. (Image: Watford Borough Council) Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “Chewing gum litter is highly visible on our high streets and is both difficult and expensive to clean up, so the support for councils provided by the Chewing Gum Task Force and the gum manufacturers is very welcome.

“However, once the gum has been cleaned up, it is vital to remind the public that when it comes to litter, whether it’s gum or anything else, there is only one place it should be – in the bin – and that is why the behaviour change element of the task force’s work is so important.”