15/04/2017 London News

Chewing gum on London's pavements may not seem like a major problem,

but our councils spend millions of pounds cleaning it up every year,

they now feel gum manufacturers should help pay the cost.

Oxford Street is a place where the problem is most acute,

and from where Frankie McCamley reports.

it's a staple on the shelves inside most shops and supermarkets.

But once the chewing gum leaves the store

and makes its way onto the high street,

that's when it becomes an unattractive problem.

Councils are now calling on the manufacturers

to contribute to the huge bills they face to clean it up.

asked the industry to try and find a solution,

sing the chemistry and the science that they have at their disposal.

They have been really slow to act, and this is another call to say,

actually, the ?60 million a year that councils are spending

could be better spent on other services to the public.

The call comes after one charity found

almost every main shopping street is stained by gum,

along with around two thirds of all roads and pavements.

And here on one of Britain's busiest high streets,

it's not difficult to spot chewing gum stuck to the floor.

considering it only costs us about 3p per piece.

However, councils say it costs 50 times that to remove it -

at ?1.50 per square metre of pavement.

It's estimated assistance from chewing gum companies

to fill more than a million potholes,

but the message from the brands

is drop it in the bin, not on the floor.

A teenager stabbed to death on Tuesday in west London

has been identified as 19-year-old Abdullahi Tarabi from Greenford.

He died after being knifed in the stomach in Northolt.

A 16 and a 17-year-old have been charged with murder.

Easter is among the busiest times to be flying from London,

and so travellers on domestic flights from Heathrow are

being offered a faster way to board, using biometric gates.

British Airways say it could be the future of boarding,

so we sent Emma North to take a look.

A shorter queue is surely a welcome sight,

particularly around a bank holiday, and at Heathrow's Terminal 5,

these passengers are using a new system to help them board faster.

It's run by British Airways, and it uses biometrics.

The passengers had a photograph of them taken earlier at security.

That picture was linked to their boarding pass.

When they reach the gate - that's the final check before

you get on a plane - fingers crossed that photograph

confirms who they are and, hey presto, they're free to fly.

British Airways say that they've managed to cut the time it takes

to get a plane load of passengers on board

an increasingly automated age of travel.

So are we looking at a day when we can go through an airport

without having to talk to a single other person?

Any kind of automation can be good - if it speeds up the process

of getting through an airport, most people don't like being there.

However, a large proportion of the population

still like to speak to people, to have human interaction.

British Airways is fighting a tough battle at the moment,

It's cut free meals and leg room on its short-haul flights,

and this new system cuts the need for three staff members to two.

The airline's motto is, "To fly, to serve".

You do need the human element, we don't disagree with that at all,

but you needed that human element when you need it - on demand,

is free up our staff to deliver that.

BA say they plan to install one biometric gate a week

at London Heathrow - for domestic flights only -

and they promise there will still be help for people who,

in this automated age, are yet to get on board.

A look at the weather, and showers start to creep

in tonight, which will spread during the day tomorrow.

A top temperature of 15 Celsius, but feeling cooler.

So tomorrow's Easter Sunday, so here's something to get

you in the mood you're planning on indulging in some chocolate.

It's a six foot tall chocolate sculpture of Thomas the Tank Engine.

It's at King's Cross Station and enough Belgian chocolate was used

It's on the concourse until tomorrow.

I wonder if they need help eating it!

That's it, we're back at the same time tomorrow.