TEENAGER Sian Massey has a message for people who drop gum in the streets of her home town - do not do it.

Sian, 13, who goes to Acklam Grange School, in Middlesbrough, won a competition to design a cover for the books of gum wraps the council is giving out as part of its campaign to persuade people not to drop gum.

Her design, showing two sections of pavement, one full of gum and the other clean, will go on 1,000 gum wraps.

The council is involved in a four-week campaign to reduce the amount of chewing gum litter on the streets, supported by the Chewing Gum Action Campaign.

It has produced thousands of slips of recycled paper, which are available at a number of outlets around the town centre, in a bid to encourage people to wrap their discarded gum, before putting it in a bin, instead of spitting it onto the pavement.

Councillor Pervaz Khan, executive member for Streetscene, said: "We've really got to get people out of the habit of dropping gum.

"It's unsightly and expensive to remove. The campaign has been a good start, and I am pleased that young people like Sian are taking an interest."