Pressure grows in UK over plastic bag scourge

The announcement followed the publication of figures in today's Guardian showing that the government bought nearly 1m plastic bags last year for promotion and marketing purposes.

The revelation was particularly embarrassing because it coincided with the publication of an article by the prime minister in the Daily Mail pledging a crackdown on the use of plastic bags.

The Mail has been running a high-profile campaign against plastic bags and in his article Brown revealed that he was willing to legislate within a year to stop supermarkets handing out free plastic bags.

Today the Central Office of Information, which organises marketing campaigns on behalf of government departments, said that in future it would not be buying plastic bags.

M&S said the 5p fee - which will be donated to charity - would apply to its food carriers only, of which some 394 million were handed out last year.

The move is part of M&S's drive to improve its ecological credentials. However it was met with a mixed response from its shoppers.

Marks and Spencer's move to charge food shoppers 5p for its food carrier bags was welcomed as a move in the right direction by the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, Jane Davidson, today.



Representatives of the Welsh Assembly Government were meeting colleagues from DEFRA and other bodies today to

discuss the progress and next steps of a voluntary retailer agreement to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags.