A CAMPAIGN to get chewing gum firms to pay towards street clean-up costs has been rejected by Worcester City Council - despite staff spending a staggering 18 weeks a year dealing with the mess.

The city's Conservative leadership says it will not be asking the likes of Wrigley to stump up "another tax" to help foot the bill for Worcester.

The stance means the council is effectively going against the body purporting to represent it, the Local Government Association (LGA), which has asked gum manufacturers to finally fork out a "substantial contribution" towards the problem.

The LGA says cash-strapped councils are increasingly under pressure to keep streets clean, yet chewing gum costs £56 million a year to deal with across England.

In Worcester the council spends the equivalent of 18 weeks a year just removing gum, going across the entire city using a £15,000 hot washing device.

Taxpayers spend £13,200 a year to keep the washer in operation, and on top of that the annual street cleansing bill is £1.2 million, which also results in workers pulling gum off the city's streets.

But Councillor Andy Roberts, cabinet member for the environment, said he was against the campaign on principle despite bemoaning Worcester's "mass of whiteness".

He told your Worcester News he felt an extra tax on manufacturers would be passed onto the public, and that it would create a precedent for other food companies.

"For me it is absolutely about education," he said.

"It is a real nuisance, you could put all of your resources into trying to tackle it and it won't get better.

"But generally, I don't think this is a particularly good idea, I've seen it (the campaign) and I don't agree.

"If chewing gum is a problem you tackle it at source. It's a good thing that this is being brought to people's attention, but with the idea of putting an extra tax on something, the question is where do you stop."

Cllr Roberts added that the current status quo is "very labour intensive" and if less people dropped it, it would save time and money.

Two council workers operate the hot washer device, and it goes around every city street in three six-week cycles every year.

The LGA says each piece of chewing gum costs about 3p to buy, but costs councils £1.50 to clean up.

It also says chewing gum is consistently highlighted by the public as a problem in urban areas of the UK, and is despised more than discarded litter because of the mess it causes.

Peter Box, the body's environment spokesman, called it "a plague on our pavements" and wants manufacturers to contribute to the clean-up costs.

It also insists that rather than the suggestion be viewed as a 'gum tax', it wants firms like Wrigley to "show corporate responsibilty" and make some effort to meet a portion of that street cleansing bill.

Wrigley, the UK's dominant gum manufacturer, is currently attempting to develop a product which it says will be "easier to remove if disposed of improperly".

The LGA's campaign has been backed by Keep Britain Tidy, which says councils should publicise the fact litterers can be fined up to £80 on-the-spot more widely.

* What do you think? Is chewing gum bothering you in Worcester? Should the LGA's campaign be taken seriously by central Government? Call 01905 742248 or email te@worcesternews.co.uk.