Veolia cleared chewing gum from about 1km of pavement at Watford shopping parades, funded by grants of almost £25,000 over three years. Updated November 2026.
Chewing gum has been cleared from about 5,718 square metres of pavement and public space at Watford’s neighbourhood shopping parades, roughly a kilometre of footway in all, the council said on Friday 6 November. The work was done by Veolia, the council’s waste and street cleansing contractor, and paid for by the national Chewing Gum Task Force Grant Scheme.
Watford Borough Council has now won money from the scheme for three years in a row, almost £25,000 in total. In the first rounds the clean-up concentrated on two of the town’s main shopping streets, St Albans Road and Queen’s Road. This year it moved out to the smaller parades.
Where the gum was removed
The council describes the project as covering 10 shopping parades. The list it published names these 11 locations, grouped by ward:
- Woodside: The Brow, Haines Way and Horseshoe Lane
- Stanborough: North Approach and Orbital Crescent
- Meriden: Garden Park Parade, St Albans Road and The Gossamers
- Tudor: Bushey Mill Lane
- Leggatts: Goodwood Parade on Courtlands Drive, and Foxhill
Stickers in shop windows
Alongside the cleaning, Veolia put up new signs asking people to put their gum in a bin, and asked businesses on the parades to display “Bin Your Gum” stickers in their windows. The photographs the council sent show the posters in place: a duckling design in a charity shop window, a cat design at a vet’s.
Darren Harding, Veolia’s regional manager, said: “As Watford Council’s recycling, waste collection and street cleansing partner, we are committed to keeping Watford clean and welcoming.
“This campaign gave our street cleansing teams the chance to go beyond their usual work by using specialist equipment to remove chewing gum, while our Educations, Communications and Outreach team engaged with businesses to display signage in their shop windows.
“By combining gum removal with education, we can help maintain these improvements and empower the community to keep Watford clean and green for everyone.”
What the mayor said
Peter Taylor, the Elected Mayor of Watford, said: “Keeping our streets clean and welcoming is important for residents, businesses and visitors. We’re pleased to have secured funding for a third-year running, by cleaning up chewing gum and encouraging people to put it in the bin, we’re all playing [our] part to help improve our town and keep Watford looking its best.
“I’d like to thank Veolia for their support in carrying out this work and for the important role they play in keeping our streets clean and tidy all year round.”
Who pays for it
The Chewing Gum Task Force was set up by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and is run by Keep Britain Tidy, which hands out the grants. The money comes from the gum makers Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle, committed over five years, and the scheme is meant to pay for clean-ups and for work to change how people get rid of gum.
The council’s release puts the cost to councils of removing gum from streets and public spaces at around £7 million a year, and cites Keep Britain Tidy figures that about 77% of England’s streets and 99% of retail sites are stained with gum.
The council is asking residents and visitors to put used gum in a bin, which it says keeps the parades cleaner and cuts litter that can harm wildlife. Veolia, which also collects the borough.s bins and recycling, has an offer of free fruit trees for Watford schools is open until 20 November, and the council’s wider carbon and environment figures were published last month.
Have your say