Today, it was announced that Havering Council has been successful in applying for a £70,000 grant to clean up chewing gum mess in your area.

The grants are part of £10m in funding, first announced as part of the Prime Minister’s High Street Strategy and funded by responsible gum companies – not the taxpayer.

Estimates suggest the annual clean-up cost of chewing gum for councils in the UK is around £7 million and according to Keep Britain Tidy, around 87% of England’s streets are stained with gum.

Councils have been awarded grants of up £20,000 to purchase cleaning equipment as well as receiving signage to warn people not to litter gum - previous pilots run by Mars Wrigley and not-for-profit Behaviour Change using this signage have reduced gum littering by up to 64%.

Andrew Rosindell M.P. for Romford said: 

"I am delighted that Havering Council has been awarded £70,000 to clean up chewing gum from our streets. 

This will mean that Romford town centre can get some love and care, all thanks to the Government scheme to help tidy up our high streets. 

I am passionate about regenerating Romford and it is the small things like this which make the perfect start. 

Romford is in desperate need of regeneration and as the town’s M.P., I will work with the new leadership of Havering to help make that happen, to restore pride to Romford and continue my campaign to keep Havering a town and country borough. 

I have long championed the regeneration of our town centre; now that the Elizabeth Line is open, in this momentous year, it is more important than ever that progress is made to attract investment and appropriate new developments for Romford."