£5,000 blitz to remove chewing gum from streets

Burnley Council contractors are using high pressure hoses to blast the eyesore gum from pavements and generally clean grime from the paving stones.

The council has put aside £5,000 to cover the cost of this work – but stressed it was money that could have been spent on other services.

Coun. Tony Harrison, the council’s Executive member for community services, said: “We put aside £5,000 to cover the cost of this work which we felt was essential.

“However, we shouldn’t really have to spend money on this, when there are much better uses.

“It’s because a small minority don’t think twice about spitting out gum onto the floor and leaving it to make a mess that we’re being forced to spend this money on cleaning up after them.

“We felt there was a particular issue in lower St James’s Street and Hammerton Street which was spoiling the whole town centre and those are the pavements we are tackling.

“The impact is amazing; you can really tell the difference between the areas that have been cleaned and not.”