PEOPLE who drop chewing gum on the streets of Swindon should pay on-the-spot fines, an MP has claimed.

South Swindon MP Julia Drown is pushing the Govern-ment to crack down on those who litter the town's streets with gum.

She is to write to Environment Minister Elliot Morley with a list of suggestions including:

giving Swindon Council the power to instantly fine people who drop chewing gum

classifying chewing gum as litter and pressuring police to treat the issue as a priority

Forcing chewing gum manufacturers to pay a levy which would be used to clean gum-encrusted streets

Currently people caught dropping litter in the street can be taken to court by local authorities and forced to pay fines as high as £2,500.

There is however confusion over whether chewing gum is defined as litter, which has resulted in very few fines.

Ms Drown believes the Government should allow Swindon to follow the example of Leicester, where street wardens hand out £50 on-the-spot fines for anyone caught dropping gum.

She said: "First off we must class chewing gum as litter for the simple reason that it causes so much mess in our streets.

"Chewing gum is a real headache and is actually very anti-social.

"We have to raise awareness that dropping it is environmental crime.

"During a particular event, local borough council officers could be out with the police.

"That way, someone trying to give a fixed penalty notice would have the police to back them up if a person refused to give their name and address."

John Short, director of Swindon Services, supports the idea and said that if introduced the fines should be at least £50-£75.

Swindon Council wrote to Ms Drown and North Swindon MP Michael Wills asking for help after discussing how to tackle chewing gum.

One councillor had suggested introducing gum shields or targets as novel ways for people to get rid of their chewing gum but the council's cabinet was worried about the appearance of these shields and wanted to look at alternatives.

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.

Editor