Two councils are among some of the first to be awarded thousands of pounds by the government to help tackle the scourge of chewing gum discarded on the streets.

Sevenoaks council has been awarded £20,000 from The Chewing Gum Task Force while Gravesham has been given £11,631.

Sevenoaks' cash will be used to carry out deep cleans and remove chewing gum stains from a number of the district’s high streets. It will also buy new signs to encourage people to bin their gum.

Cabinet member for cleaner and greener Councillor Margot McArthur said: “We’re delighted to have received this funding which will help us tackle the ongoing problem of chewing gum staining.

“Littering is a criminal offence and carries on-the-spot penalties of a maximum of £150 in England. We hope the new signage will make people think twice about where they leave their gum.”

The cleansing will begin in early September and will take roughly six weeks.

Gravesham's grant of £11,631 will go towards employing additional staff to clear historic gum litter stains at 22 shopping parades and five locations within Gravesend town centre, leaving the council’s specialised deep cleansing team free to keep those and other areas gum free. Additional signs encouraging people to dispose of gum responsibly will also be put up across the borough.

Cllr Lee Croxton, Gravesham council’s cabinet member for operational services, said: “Despite our efforts to educate and inform the public, the discarding of gum on our pavements and in our pedestrianised areas remains a thoroughly unpleasant problem across the borough.

“This grant funding is gratefully received and will be immediately put to good use in tackling the unsightly stains that mark the spots where those who really should know better have simply spat out gum.”

Established by Defra and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, the Chewing Gum Task Force aims to clean gum off pavements and put in measures to stop it being dropped in the first place.

Estimates suggest the annual clean-up cost of chewing gum for councils in the UK is around £7 million and according to Keep Britain Tidy, around 87% of England’s streets are stained with gum.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “This is an exciting new opportunity for councils to tackle the ongoing problem of gum pollution.

“The grants will allow councils to clean up historic gum litter staining in our towns and cities, as well as taking action to prevent people littering in the first place.”

Ana Baptista, corporate affairs director at Mars Wrigley UK, said: “Mars Wrigley has invested in campaigns to tackle litter across the UK for many years. Through our partnership with Behaviour Change we have developed interventions proven to reduce gum littering which have already been used by over 100 councils.

“We are delighted to see these deployed as part of the Chewing Gum Task Force Grant Scheme and look forward to having many more councils on board.”