Heavy duty equipment will be bought to clean the street of Hamilton and remove unsightly chewing gum.

Mayor Sutherland Madeiros said the new equipment would be arriving shortly as he kicked off the City in Bloom campaign yesterday. The campaign hopes to beautify the city and encourage businesses and residents to take pride in the area. The Mayor said: "It's a common practise to spring clean a home and we want to spring clean the city.

'The Corporation of Hamilton workers have been taking truck loads of trash to the dump. They have planted thousands of flowers around the city and put new cigarette receptacles out. We hope that this will become an annual event."

The COH has partnered with Keep Bermuda Beautiful for the campaign, which will last for the month of May. The public is being encouraged to participate in the campaign through a variety of initiatives.

The COH has planters which have been specially decorated so people or companies can adopt for the year. They will be responsible for maintaining the planter and allowed pick where it is placed in the city. The planters will also have a special plaques stating who owns it.

Businesses have also been encouraged to use the City in Bloom theme to decorate their store windows or encourage employees to join a corporate Clean & Green team and tidy an area of the city during a lunch hour.

Companies interested in ordering a cigarette receptacle for outside their building should also contact the COH.

Several schools in the city have already participated in the campaign by creating banners which have been placed in Washington Lane, Chancery Lane, Fagan Alley and Joell's Alley. The initiative is known as Art in the Alley and will be judged at the end of the month.

For more information visit www.cityinbloom.bm or call the COH at 292-1234.