Council awarded chewing gum clean-up grant | Sevenoaks District Council

Council awarded chewing gum clean-up grant

Published: Tuesday, 9th August 2022

Sevenoaks District Council is being awarded £20,000 in funding as part of The Chewing Gum Task Force grant scheme.

The scheme, that was set up by DEFRA and is run by Keep Britain Tidy, aims to help Councils clean up discarded gum in towns and villages.

Sevenoaks District Council is one of the first authorities to be awarded the grant, which will be used to carry out deep cleans and remove chewing gum stains from a number of the District’s high streets. New signage to encourage residents to bin their gum will also be installed.

Cabinet Member for Cleaner & Greener, Councillor Margot McArthur says: “We’re delighted to have received this funding from The Chewing Gum Task Force, which will help us tackle the ongoing problem of chewing gum staining.

“Littering is a criminal offence and carries on-the-spot penalties of a maximum of £150 in England. We hope the new signage will make people think twice about where they leave their gum.”

The cleansing will begin in early September and will take roughly six weeks to complete.