Now, chewing gum that can be washed off with water!

London, July 10 (ANI): A UK company has invented a chewing gum, which can be easily removed by using water.

Pioneering Flintshire-based company Revolymer said that its product adds a new polymer to the mix which makes it far easier to remove and quicker to degrade.

Some 9,000 tonnes of chewing gum is disposed of in Britain each year, with up to 80pc of that ending up littering the streets.

The product has "the same chewing texture and flavour release as standard gum, you wouldn't know the difference," the Telegraph quoted Roger Pettman, Revolymer's chief executive as saying.

Revolymer's gum has now been approved by US food safety authorities and is going though the final stages of approval in Europe.

Pettman hopes to have this new product on sale in Europe in 2011.

Boris Johnson, London mayor, said chewing gum "casts an unsightly stain on our beautiful city" at a meeting with litter campaigners and gum-makers on Friday.

Revolymer has been working on the product for four years, at a cost of 10 million pounds .

The company grew out of research carried out at Bristol University and is backed by venture capital and private equity money. (ANI)