PEOPLE who drop chewing gum on the streets of Swindon could soon be stuck with an on-the-spot fine.

The sticky situation would force spitters to cough up as much as £75 under an anti-litter initiative.

The drive, co-ordinated by the government-sponsored Chewing Gum Action Group, will also include an advertising campaign aimed at highlighting the nuisance caused by dropped gum.

It is being piloted in three areas, starting in Preston, with Manchester and Maidstone joining in next month. The campaign could then target Swindon as it becomes enforced nationwide.

Last year Swindon children from Drove and Ruskin Primary schools conducted a survey in the Canal Walk Regent Street area and counted 32,500 discarded pieces of gum.

Mayor Ray Fisher, who welcomed the new proposal, said the problem was still blighting the town's streets.

"It is all through the town centre," he said. "My view is that you should tackle the abuses and not the users.

"We need to make people realise that this is their town, they belong here and own it so they need to look after it."

The objective of the campaign is to persuade chewers to think twice about how they dispose of their gum, and find a bin in which to drop it.

Disposal pouches will be handed out in pedestrian areas and shops.

The advertising campaign will include posters in shopping areas and on telephone boxes. The message will also feature on beer mats in pubs.

And on the enforcement side, local councils' specially trained wardens will issue fines ranging from £50 up to a maximum of £75 to those who persist in littering streets.

Reaction to the tactics will be assessed with a view to developing a national campaign later this year.

Local environment minister Ben Bradshaw said: "Irresponsibly discarded gum which sticks to the streets and other areas of public property is a nuisance which costs councils thousands to clean up every year.

"This campaign is being developed by the Chewing Gum Action Group and is the start of a wider publicity push that will really get the message across that throwing your used gum on the floor is just not acceptable."

Ben Payne