CHEWING gum is already blighting the newly-revamped Frideswide Square in Oxford.

City council executive John Tanner said it was “beginning to appear” across the new public space.

The city council spends £20,000 a year on clearing up chewing gum across the city.

Mr Tanner added: “We have made huge progress in getting people to think before they litter and now we need to do more to tackle the problem of chewing gum.

“It is everywhere and it sticks to your shoe and disfigures the pavement – but it is completely unnecessary .”

Mr Tanner said throwing gum on the pavement was technically a criminal offence and people could be fined £80.

Work to revamp Oxford’s Frideswide Square cost £6.7m and took from February to December 2015.