THEY were heralded as the solution to the sticky problem of dropped chewing gum - but now Bournemouth has decided not to bother with gum boards.

GumTargets were launched in the town in 2002 in a bid to cut the high cost of scraping chewing gum off the streets.

The boards, which invite people to stick their gum on the faces of unpopular celebrities, have since attracted praise from government ministers, won an environmental award and been rolled out to other councils in the country.

But after an 18-month trial period, the council has decided not to renew its contract with Bournemouth-based Meteora Ltd.

Mike Moon, street scene manager at Bournemouth Borough Council, said: "While the scheme has had some success in raising awareness of this issue, we believe that it is best use of council money to continue to specialist-clean the pavements for effective removal of gum."

But Ian Kenyon, business development director at Meteora Ltd, said around 1,000 pieces of gum a week were being stuck on the boards and they were buoyed by the support they had had from the public. He said: "You have to wonder what's going to happen to all that gum now. We would have liked to discuss with the council ways of reducing the costs associated with the initiative but they didn't feel that was appropriate.

"We feel that we've made some very good progress but feel there was a great deal more that could have been achieved in Bournemouth."

The gum boards cost the council £15,000 a year and within months of their installation, they received a Green Apple award from independent environmental group the Green Organisations.

They have also been extended to areas of Sheffield, Leeds, Ealing and Luton.

But not everyone was in favour of them - former town centre manager Brigid Caroll received a wave of support after calling them "absolutely awful".

First published: August 19