00:01It's 2026 and some people still think it's okay to drop gum on the ground instead of binning it.
00:07But how do you resolve the sticky situation?
00:10The Lee City Council has secured £25,000 from the National Chewing Gum Task Force to blitz the problem.
00:16The aim is to clean up historic gum staining and change behaviour so that more people bin gum.
00:22The funding will be used for a deep clean of streets in the city centre
00:26and for the application of a pavement protector that prevents staining and makes it easier to remove gum in the
00:32future.
00:33This will be supported by new signage and an extensive behaviour change campaign.
00:38Working closely with Leeds Business Improvement District,
00:42the deep clean will take place on Call Lane, Duncan Street and Lower Brigitt,
00:46as well as New York and York Street by the bus station and Clothall Street next to the Corn Exchange.
00:52The Cleaning and Behaviour Change campaign aims to keep the city centre cleaner, safer and more accessible
00:58by encouraging the public to dispose of chewing gum responsibly.
01:02Monitoring and evaluation will be carried out by Social Enterprise Behaviour Change,
01:07which has shown that in areas that benefited from funding,
01:10a reduced rate of gum littering of up to 86% was seen in the first two months.
01:16Reductions were still being observed six months after targeted street cleansing.
01:20Keep Britain Tidy say everyone in Leeds can play a part by binning their gun properly,
01:25but only time will tell if the plans stick.
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