Young get stuck into tackling gum menace

CREATIVE youngsters are getting stuck into a campaign to reduce the amount of chewing gum on local streets.

A four-week promotion — run by Oldham Council in association with the Chewing Gum Action Group (CGAG) — is targeting gum chewers in locations where they are most likely to drop litter.

Members of Oldham Youth Council have already staged several eye-catching initiatives, such as setting up an environmental crime scene in the town centre.

Dressed in boiler suits and face masks, the youngsters chalked around new patches of chewing gum that have appeared in the four weeks since the last deep clean.

Curious passers-by were offered free pens and chewing gum if they agreed to sign a pledge not to throw gum litter on the floor.

More than 500 people signed up and a basketball hoops shoot-out — designed to get the message across to throw your litter into the bin — proved equally popular.