Thanks to the Council’s successful bid for external funding we’ll be tackling the sticky issue of chewing gum in the Sidcup High Street, Station Road in Sidcup and in Market Place in Bexleyheath.

Bexley is one of 52 Councils across the country that have successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force for funds and we have been awarded, £27,488.65 to clean gum off pavements and prevent them from being littered again. The clean-up activity is run by Keep Britain Tidy.

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 77% of England’s streets and 99% of retail sites are stained with gum.

The clean-up operation will begin in Sidcup High Street in late summer and will last 10 weeks in total.  Specialist equipment will be used to clean gum off the pavements and new signage to encourage people to bin their gum will be put up. The signage comes in four designs (duck, kitten, rabbit, squirrel).  

The cleaning activity in Sidcup follows a previous successful gum litter clean-up in Bexleyheath Town Centre in autumn 2024 after which the new signs were put up. In addition we have fitted twenty new smartbins on lamp post columns in Bexleyheath Town Centre to make it easier for people to dispose of their chewing gum and cigarette litter. These combined initiatives have resulted in a marked reduction in gum litter there.  It is hoped this success will be repeated in Sidcup.

Cllr Richard Diment, Bexley’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods said:

Keeping Bexley clean and green is a top priority for the Council and this gum clean-up activity, along with other initiatives such as investing in new smart litter bins specifically for gum and cigarette butts, will help make our borough a greener place to live in and an attractive place for visitors and businesses to thrive”

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, said:

Chewing gum continues to be an unsightly form of litter in our public spaces – though thankfully the scheme is leading to significant reductions. People need to remember that disposing irresponsibly of their gum causes harm to our environment as it takes years to decompose naturally – and, ultimately, costs the public purse to clean it up."

Gum littering or dropping cigarette butts is an offence and an on-the-spot fixed penalty notice of up to £300 will be issued to anyone witnessed doing this.