Declaring war on urban blight

According to The Price Group, nearly a billion packs of chewing gum are sold in the UK every year.

It has also been estimated that up to 3.5 billion blobs of chewed gum have ended up on the streets, and 92% of city paving stones have had gum stuck to them.

The Price Group's,Charlie Price, explains "Boris Johnson recently said that chewing-gum on our streets and pavements is like a plague of monstrous acne.And he's right. It is an awful self-inflicted impetigo on the face of modern London, and it costs a fortune to treat. It takes three months to clear 300,000 splodges from Oxford Street alone.

"The company aims to help its clients by setting up two custombuilt vans with pressure washing and steam cleaning equipment specifically for cladding and car park work, which includes chewinggum and graffiti removal.

"We provide a quick response service for graffiti and gum removal,"Charlie explained."We are, however, intending to set up cost-effect maintenance contracts that will combat the problem before it has chance to become the kind of eyesore that results in a costly cleaning bill."