A NEW gum-busting machine has been out on the streets of Teignbridge to clear pathways of a sticky problem. 

Funding from the Chewing Gum Task Force to the tune of £18,000 is helping Teignbridge Council to clear chewing gum from pavements and reduce gum littering. 

Teams have been out in Newton Abbot with the new equipment clearing gum discarded on the street.

Teignbridge Council says over the next few weeks, the team will be cleaning up gum and installing signs to prevent further gum litter across the district. 

The council is one of 54 authorities which successfully applied for funding from the task force, now in its third year, and has received £18,297.

Cllr Peter Williams, executive member for recycling, household waste and environmental health, said:

‘Carelessly discarded chewing gum is a major headache for residents, businesses and the council. 

‘It destroys clothes and shoes, presents a serious hazard to wildlife and can blight the appearance of a neighbourhood.

‘A piece of chewing gum costs about three pence to produce, but the removal cost is about 10p. And when you consider the vast majority, more than 80per cent , of gum is not disposed of properly, this is an enormous cost to society and the taxpayer.’

Established by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, the Chewing Gum Task Force Grant Scheme allows councils to clean up gum and invest in long-term behaviour change to prevent gum from being dropped in the first place.