Nottingham has landed £27,500 to tackle one of the city centre’s most stubborn eyesores — chewing gum.
The cash comes from the national Keep Britain Tidy Chewing Gum Task Force, set up by Defra to help councils scrub gum off pavements and convince people to stop dropping it in the first place.
Nottingham is one of 50 councils to get a slice of the fund, which has already pumped more than £6.4 million into cleaning up streets across the UK since 2021 — clearing a whopping 4.15 million square metres of gum‑stained pavement.
The money will go towards specialist removal equipment, staffing, and a behaviour‑change campaign aimed at getting people to actually bin their gum. Streets including Friar Lane, Beastmarket Hill, Angel Row, Market Street, King’s Street, Queen Street, Wheeler Gate and Exchange Walk are all set for a deep clean.
Expect to see new signs, stencil markings and other eye‑catching reminders popping up around the city centre, urging people to ditch the habit. Previous rounds of the scheme have shown gum littering can drop by up to 86% within two months of cleaning and awareness campaigns — and the improvements continue for months afterwards.
Councillor Sam Lux said the funding will make a “big difference” to the look of the city centre.
“Removing gum is hard and expensive, so this investment will be a big help,” she said. “We’re looking forward to seeing a cleaner city centre for Nottingham people, visitors and businesses.”
Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden‑Newton OBE added that every piece of gum dropped “damages the environment” and leaves taxpayers footing the bill.
The new equipment will also support future cleaning across Nottingham as part of the council’s wider push to keep public spaces clean and boost civic pride.
More details on the clean‑up and campaign will be revealed soon.
