Yes... says York MP Hugh Bayley, who has spoken in Parliament about the nuisance of the sticky blobs.

THE problem with chewing gum is that councils across the country have to pay £100 million a year to clean it off pavements and public places. You look at traditional York stone pavements in our city and they can be covered with the stuff, which soon turns to black blobs.

It is ugly, it spoils the appearance of our towns and cities, and there is no need for it.

When the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill was being discussed at the end of last year, I called in Parliament for action to be taken to persuade people not to drop chewing gum or cigarette ends on the street.

At the time, some people thought it was a joke. But actually I have had many more people contacting me in favour of action rather than being against.

The key is to try to encourage people to dispose of chewing gum sensibly once they have finished with it. I asked the Government to contact the manufacturers to suggest they sell gum in special packs, perhaps like Tic-tac packs, that have a slot at the top to dispense the gum and a slot at the bottom to store chewed gum in.

Alun Michael, the environment minister, took it up with Wrigleys, who make something like 95 per cent of gum chewed in the UK, and they have now joined a Department of the Environment working party looking at ways to solve the problem.

I believe they are piloting a scheme to give out little containers to anybody who buys gum so they have something to put their chewed gum into.

That would certainly help. But it may not in itself be enough. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill was enacted and became law in April this year. It contained two measures relating to chewing gum.

First, it made clear that chewing gum and cigarette ends do count as litter under the law. And second, it gave councils the right to issue fixed penalty notices to people who drop them.

My goal is to stop people dropping the stuff. I don't particularly want people to be fined £50. But I think it would send out a strong message, and if combined with other measures to make it easier for people to dispose of their chewing gum, it could lead to much less of it being dropped.

That would save council taxpayers millions, and would make our cities more pleasant places to.

I don't think you should demand money there and then. It would be a question of taking peoples' names and addresses - and asking for ID to verify them - then serving them notices with a period of time in which to pay.

However, dropping chewing gum on the street is not right, it is not pleasant and it should stop. If City of York Council council is going to use new powers provided under the new act to take action, I wholeheartedly support them.

No... says York street cleaner Paul Willey

THE problem of streets blighted with chewing gum will never go away. It is like painting the Forth Bridge - you clean a street and two weeks later you are back to square one.

Many years ago, when I was an up-and-coming street sweeper, my manager asked me to look down Parliament Street and tell him what litter I could see. There was no litter. Look for something else that shouldn't be there, he asked. All I could see was hundreds and hundreds of white blobs on the pavement - chewing gum. If you don't look for it, you don't notice it, my manager said.

Many a time when we have been out and about with the bubble gum machine, people have asked us what we are doing. When we explain that the white blobs are pieces of dried chewing gum, the public see the large scale of the nuisance.

The best time to see the problem is when it is raining. Take a look at the pavement and the white blobs are everywhere.

About ten years ago a firm spent 15 nights removing gum from High Ousegate, the first time it had happened in York.

Last year the council and York Business Pride joined forces to have a long-term blitz on the problem, enlisting the help of PACY (Partnership Arclight and City of York Council) volunteers along the way.

So I fully understand the proposal to introduce on-the-spot fines. But my view is that it will not work and I would be against the idea.

As Coun Hall said in yesterday's Evening Press, "The chance of catching people is very small." I fully agree. I have yet to see anyone drop chewing gum, yet people do it all the time - as I can vouch for from the thousands of pieces that are stuck to the pavement.

If somebody is caught and they didn't have £50 on them, how would the fine be imposed?

It is all well and good taking a name and address but how many Michael Mouses and Jack Daniels do you think would suddenly be found living in York?

I can see evidence of people trying to dispose of gum properly by the amount that is around litter-bins. My opinion is that people take it from their mouths, toss it towards the bin but it misses and ends up on the floor.

With that in mind, I would support an awareness campaign, maybe paid for by the chewing gum makers.

Or perhaps the Government could do as Singapore does and totally ban gum. Problem solved.

Or what about the gum manufacturers getting together and saying between them, we have sold one million packets of gum in York this year, let's give 1p a pack to the council to help clear it up? Or perhaps they could spend some of the profits on creating a "non-stick gum"!

We all moan when gum is stuck to our shoes, clothes etc but most of us chew it at some time or other. It isn't the council who drops it on the streets but the council has to clear it up.

Whatever the outcome of the proposals, this is a problem and one that only the gum-chewing public can solve.

Updated: 09:08 Friday, June 03, 2005