SALISBURY City Council spends £36,000 a year on cleaning up discarded chewing gum, civic chiefs have said.

The figure was released as part of a push to get more people to bin their gum instead of throwing it on the ground.

The council says that its Street Scene Team are working with contractors Idverde to clean it off the 20,000m2 of city streets.

And to raise awareness of the littering, chalk-based spray paint has been applied to the High Street to draw attention to passers-by the areas where chewing gum is a problem.

Salisbury Journal:

A city council spokesperson said: "It is hoped that by raising awareness of the huge cleaning cost incurred by gum on the streets chewers will be encouraged to use waste bins rather than dropping their gum.

"Steam cleaning is underway to get rid of the gum which is causing a blight on our beautiful city."