The Bolton MP who demanded a tax on chewing gum now says brightly-coloured "gummy bins" could be a solution to the problem of people throwing their gum on the street.

The eye-catching, bear-shaped bins have been suggested as a good way to tackle Bolton's chewing gum problems by David Crausby.

Mr Crausby, MP for Bolton north-east, said: "I think that gummy bins would be another great way to tackle the issue of people thoughtlessly dropping gum. They are eye-catching and will encourage people to think about recycling.

"They have been a success in other towns where they have been put in prominent places.

"People recognise what a blight discarded gum is on our streets. On average a piece of chewing gum costs 3p to buy but can cost from 10p to £1.50 to clean-up."

Mr Crausby is now liaising with Bolton Council over plans to attach gummy bins to lampposts across the town centre. The bins contain removable cartridges which can hold up to 500 pieces of gum.

The contents are collected regularly, cooled, sterilised and recycled into materials that can be used for construction and drainage.

The scheme has seen positive results in Blackburn, Rochdale and Sollihul, where the local council reported a 72 per cent reduction in discarded gum during a recent trial of gummy bins.

The cost to local authorities across Britain of cleaning up chewing gum last year was estimated at £150 million. Specialist machines which get rid of chewing gum can cost £15,000 each to buy.

Gummy bins, which are manufactured by a Cheshire-based company, cost around £50 each to buy.