Councillors have teamed up to rid the streets of spat-out chewing gum.

Brighton and Hove City Council and Crawley Borough Council are among 20 local authorities demanding action from confectionery producers and the Government.

Now the councils have taken out adverts in national newspapers and launched a web site to highlight their Sticky Issue campaign.

Explaining that a single piece of chewing gum costs 3p to produce but 10p to clean up, the advert states: "Imagine the cost of the millions of pieces spat onto our streets each day."

The councils are demanding financial support for the clean-up bill, a national high-profile consumer education campaign and proper investment in developing biodegradable or non-stick gum.

The advert, instigated by Westminster council, adds: "Enough excuses, give us promises that stick."

In March last year, The Argus challenged Wrigley UK, which produces 90 per cent of the country's chewing gum, to take responsibility for the problem.

Wrigley said it had a commitment to preventing the real cause of gum litter: irresponsible disposal, and that it was working with other agencies to provide education programmes to tackle litter.

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "Chewing gum companies have a role to play but at the end of the day, it's the responsibility of anyone who chews gum to make sure they dispose of it properly."

The chewing gum industry is worth £300 million a year, yet Brighton and Hove pays £25,000 per year cleaning up.

During the last blitz of gum, cleaners found an average of 46 pieces of gum per square metre. Peter Browning, head of amenity services at Crawley Borough Council said: "It's really labour intensive and expensive. We want the industry to add 1p to each piece of gum and that money to be used to fund an awareness campaign."