Boris gets tough on gum crime

A million pieces of chewing gum have been dropped in the West End over the past three years, cleaners claimed today.

The figures came as Boris Johnson announced a "zero tolerance" approach to litter in the centre of London.

The New West End Company's cleaning team for Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street said it had also washed more than 2,250 square miles of pavement, removed 40,000 pieces of graffiti and fly-posting and cleaned 36,000 benches and other street furniture since 2005.

The Mayor said: "People fail to realise the cumulative impact of spitting out their gum, or chucking a piece of litter, but it creates an unacceptable blight on our streets which other people then have to scrape up or sweep away. I am determined to clamp down on the blight of litter." Westminster council has also pledged to revamp central London in time for the Olympics.

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