Strabane Council to spend thousands on gum clean-up
Strabane District Council is to spend £6,500 to clean chewing gum off the town's streets.
Councillor Eugene McMenamin, chairperson of urban regeneration company Strabane 2000, said the level of discarded gum is "unacceptable".
"The council has spent in the region of £500,000 upgrading the main streets in our town centre, only to have them blighted by chewing gum," he said.
"I would ask anyone who uses chewing to dispose of it in a responsible way."
Mr McMenamin said the average piece of gum costs three pence to buy, but 10 pence to clean off a street.
"In other councils, anyone discarding gum or any litter of any sort is automatically fined. I sincerely hope it doesn't go down that road."