A city councillor has declared war on the scourge of chewing gum in Oxford.

David Rundle, a Headington Liberal Democrat councillor, has called for the city council to lobby for a national levy of at least 1p on each packet of gum.

Money raised by the levy would pay for the cleaning of gum from the streets of Oxford -- a hefty bill that may fall to councils, once new litter laws come into effect.

A motion tabled by Mr Rundle in favour of the levy was met with the support of most of the council at a meeting last night.

He said: "Since 1998 the sales of chewing gum have gone up by half.

"Cornmarket, for example, already has a delightful speckled effect -- a bit like teenage acne.

"It costs millions of pounds per year to clean the UK's streets of chewing gum. In some places they have introduced on-the-spot fines for dropping chewing gum, but I think there are better ways, such as a 1p levy.

"The polluters should pay and the polluters are the companies selling the gum. It's common sense to pass the cost on to them.

"It's an issue that's here today and gum tomorrow," he said.

Leader of the council Alex Hollingsworth said: "Eighteen months ago at a meeting of Labour councillors to come up with bright ideas for laws, my suggestion was to put a cripplingly punitive tax on chewing gum because tax is designed to both raise money and change behaviour. I second a 1p levy and, if possible, higher."

The council voted almost unanimously in support.

Councils across the country have adopted different approaches to tackle the blight of chewing gum.

Hull City Council became the first authority in the country to use so-called chewing gum posts -- 1 metre-high bins where people can easily discard their used gum.

Aberdeen City Council has pledged to spend up to £60,000 this year on a blitz to rid gum from its streets with specialist equipment that uses jets of steam to blast it off the pavement without damaging the surface. City councils in Doncaster and Bristol use machines that freeze the gum before it is removed.

In Birmingham, a councillor has even called for the sale of chewing gum to be banned.