Walking along a west London high street, it seems there is a never ending amount of rust-coloured stains spattered near bins.
The marks left by a form of chewing stimulant called paan after its spat out – and it’s becoming a big problem in Brent.
Every morning, business owners in Wembley spend hours cleaning up the stains outside their shops, with the streets becoming scarred by the unsightly markings.
It is made up of a mixture of ingredients including betel nut and leaf and users spit out any excess liquid the paan produces.
This substance is not easy to clean up. Emmanuel Flavius, a street cleaner in the area, knows first-hand how difficult it is to remove.
He said his job has become a ‘nightmare’ as more people take up the habit.
He told Metro: ‘There are so many stains and they are almost impossible to get off. You have to use acid – nothing else will get it off. It’s disgusting, it’s anti-social and it’s a health hazard what with people spitting in public.’
Brent Council is calling for an urgent ban on the sale of paan products after it ‘reached the limit of what they can achieve through local enforcement alone’.
And when Metro went to see just how bad it was, it became clear the problem is beyond the area simply looking messy.
Countless stains covering every corner
We started our journey at the top of Wembley High Road where it became apparent within minutes the amount of stains was not easily quantifiable.
Latest London news
After walking 100 yards, Metro had counted 30. After a little under half an hour of walking, the number was easily more than 50.
We saw markings covering entire lamp posts and electric boxes, and red dribbles on sitting stubborn on washed white walls.
Mary Manuel, who has lived in Wembley for 20 years, told Metro: ‘It’s got so bad it’s just unacceptable. When I see people spitting it out I sometimes have a word with them and pretend I’m with the council and tell them off.’
‘Every morning we have to clean up our businesses’
One couple running a supermarket just off the high street said they have to spend every morning cleaning up the stains left behind overnight.
But when they have confronted the men, they have been met with aggression and threats.
What is paan?
Paan is made up of a mixture of ingredients, including betel nut and leaf, herbs and tobacco.
It can be used as a form of chewing tobacco, and when used it creates a narcotic affect.
Paan, which is popular among the South East Asian community in the city, is typically used as mouth-freshener and is consumed after eating, and it is just as addictive as smoking a regular cigarette.
Sujeeva said: ‘We have followed all the rules and complained, because it is our private property which is being damaged.
‘But these people don’t care. They use our wall to drink and chat and leave their stains behind.’
Brent Council is also frustrated by the mess left behind. It said the blood-red stains cost tens of thousands of pounds a year to clean up, and there is still lasting damage.
‘It is only a small number of people who do it’
Some argue it is not worth banning paan, when such a small minority spit it out.
Shopkeeper Jeyakanthan, who sells whole paan leaf, says he thinks only one out of 10 people who use it spit it out.
He told Metro: ‘Paan is important in Hindu culture. It is by most people in temples and ceremonies as part of worship rituals.
‘But only a very small minority misuse it and spit on the streets. It is not worth banning it for everyone.’
(Picture: Justin Griffiths-Williams)
‘This is not about targeting communities’
But Brent Council insists the ban is needed. Not just for the streets sake but also as a public health measure.
They said while England sees around 16 cases of head and neck cancer per 100,000 people, Brent experiences over 90 cases per 100,000.
It’s not calling to ban paan leaf but ones that contain tobacco or betel nut.
Cllr Krupa Sheth, cabinet member for Public Realm and Enforcement, said: ‘This is not about targeting communities, it is about dealing with individual actions that let us all down.
‘When our streets are spat on and our pavements are stained, public health is put at risk and when criminal supply chains are allowed to thrive, it is our residents who pay the price.
‘We have expanded enforcement, stepped up street cleaning and used every legal tool we have, but the reality is that councils cannot close national loopholes on their own.
‘That is why the law needs to change – simply put, a product that causes such serious harm simply should not be legally sold on our high streets.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
