Hull city centre is positively gleaming after a deep clean of discarded chewing gum, made possible by a £20,000 Chewing Gum Task Force grant.

Over the past few weeks, Hull City Council has carried out a deep clean in areas including Whitefriargate, Queen Victoria Square, King Edward Street and Jameson Street.

New posters and pavement art asking people to “please bin your gum” are also being used as part of a campaign to encourage people to dispose of their gum properly.

Discarded chewing gum makes the city centre and other high-footfall shopping areas look untidy.

The Chewing Gum Task Force was established by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and is run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.

The £20,000 funding awarded to Hull City Council is part of a package of up to £10million, paid for by major gum manufacturers, including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle, to tackle chewing gum stains.

The investment is being shared across local authorities in England and will be spread over five years.

Previous schemes using the “please bin your gum” signs, run by Mars Wrigley and not-for-profit social enterprise Behaviour Change, have reduced gum littering by up to 64 per cent.

Councillor Julia Conner, Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “Mess from chewing gum is one of the most frequent complaints from residents about Hull city centre, so it’s great that after the deep clean, we have a gleaming city centre that we can all enjoy and take pride in.”

“I hope this campaign will also make people think twice before dropping their gum and leaving an unsightly mess.”

For more information, email loveyourstreetproject@hullcc.gov.uk