Funding for chewing gum removal given to councils

Funding to help remove chewing gum from the streets has been given to two Devon councils.

South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council both received a £23,590 grant from the Chewing Gum Task Force to clean up affected streets and footpaths across both areas and reduce gum littering.

The task force grant scheme was established by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and is run by Keep Britain Tidy with funding from gum manufacturers including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle.

Council leaders said the funding would provide a positive impact on their ability to remove gum littering from the streets.

Councillor Christopher West, West Devon's lead member for climate change and biodiversity, said he hoped it would "act as a reminder to people that our streets look much nicer without litter like chewing gum".

Councillor Jacqi Hodgson, South Hams executive member for waste, added: "As a local council we can only do so much about the problems of chewing gum on the street, but we hope the public will be more thoughtful in how they dispose of their gum to help the streets stay cleaner."

Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].