ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners are urging families, schools and businesses to make the town a ‘plastic bag free zone’.

Transition Langport, which is running the campaign, screened Bag It at Great Bow Wharf on Friday and hopes it will encourage more people to shop with re-useable cotton bags and persuade retailers either to introduce a small plastic bag charge or offer a paper alternative.

Town councillor Cara Naden, of Transition Langport, said: “We would love to see that we are a plastic packaging free community but that is quite a major hill to climb. Plastic bags are an easy target to start with because we can re-use them as much as possible and then dispose of them through recycling.

“The Pacific Ocean may sound a long way from Langport but when you consider that plastic waste could enter the food chain, the problem is closer than you think. We accept that national retailers will be more resistant to change but we will still bring it to their attention.”

The scheme ran in the Devon town of Modbury and 43 small independent shops and the large Co-op joined in with the campaign.

Campaigners also want the Government to introduce legislation to make people in England pay for using carrier bags, as they do in Wales.

The group hopes to show shorter versions of the film in primary and secondary schools and sixth-form colleges, and would welcome any approach from teachers interested in organising a screening.