Gum louts are given red card

It is one of the scourges of London life: the carpet of discarded chewing gum which covers the streets - sticking to shoes, leaving ugly grey stains and costing millions to remove.

But now a campaign is being launched in a bid to purge the capital of gum.

Westminster council is handing out "red cards" to shame chewers into putting gum in the bin rather than spitting it onto the pavement. Staff will also demonstrate the painstaking task of blasting gum free with high-pressure hoses.

The council is calling for a tax to be levied on chewing gum to help cover cleaning costs, which total £90,000 a year in Westminster. Leith Penny, the borough's director of cleansing, blamed irresponsible consumers and the industry for the epidemic.

"We need to change public behaviour," he said. "But the gum industry also needs to do

more. We have been talking to them for 10 years but it seems they are reluctant to act unless they are under real pressure.

"The message to put your gum in the bin has been reduced to a tiny note on the back of the packet. When you compare that with the health warning on a box of cigarettes, it is tokenism."

Reducing the amount of gum would help improve the image of the capital as it bids for the 2012 Olympics, he added. Discarding gum is not a criminal offence, but councils have the power to issue ?50 on-the-spot fines to those leaving gum, or other litter, on the street.

But unlike the police, council staff cannot force offenders to reveal their identity. "Typically you may find yourself issuing a ticket to Mr M Mouse of Disneyworld, Florida," Mr Penny said.

Meanwhile, expensive clean-ups have proven ineffective. It took three months to rid Oxford Street of gum but just 10 days for it to be covered again.

The "red cards" met with mixed reactions from the public. Chris Hodgson, a 50-year-old sales director, said: "I chew gum when I have a cold or before a meeting. I mostly put it in the bin but if you are about to meet a client it is a good idea to get rid of it quickly."

Putting posters of Mayor Ken Livingstone's face on lamp- posts and encouraging people to stick their gum on them would be better than red cards, said John Quigley, a 35-year-old electrician from Fulham. "They do a similar thing in Portsmouth with the faces of MPs and it seems to work," he said.

Chewing gum companies are attempting to develop a biodegradable gum, but admit it is still a long way off.