A Wymondham councillor is calling on retailers and shoppers across Norfolk to remember the environment and say no to plastic bags this Christmas.South Norfolk Councillor Joe Mooney says retailers and shoppers everywhere should say no to the bags and use the example of his campaign, which is turning the tide of unwanted plastic in his district.

A Wymondham councillor is calling on retailers and shoppers across Norfolk to remember the environment and say no to plastic bags this Christmas.

South Norfolk Councillor Joe Mooney says retailers and shoppers everywhere should say no to the bags and use the example of his campaign, which is turning the tide of unwanted plastic in his district.

His appeal comes right in the middle of the Christmas and sales rush, when he feels retailers and shoppers may be tempted to use plastic bags for speed and convenience.

In South Norfolk, he believes the giant tide of plastic is finally turning.

He said: "I hope that tens of thousands of local people will head for local shops this Christmas because our local economy desperately needs the boost.

"But I would appeal to retailers and shoppers to follow the lead of South Norfolk, and refuse point blank to use plastic bags.

"My message is simple: Say No to plastic bags this Christmas, and invest in bags for life. Let's not sell out our environment in the Christmas and New Year sales rush."

Councillor Mooney's crusade got a boost recently when he held a second summit with South Norfolk retailers, who are successfully fighting back against plastic bags.

Cinnabar Gift Shop in Costessey, Morrisons in Diss, Wymondham High School, representing the Wymondham Green Team, who have actively been campaigning to make the town plastic bag free, the East of England Co-operative Society at Long Stratton, Waitrose at Wymondham and G M Autos, Harleston have successfully managed to reduce the use of plastic bags by a considerable amount.

Councillor Mooney, who launched his fight when he was South Norfolk Council chairman said: "There has been real progress with this campaign with big reductions in plastic bags issued. They are disappearing from the check-outs and you only have to wander into any high street as I do every week, to see more and more people using alternative, long lasting and sustainable bags.

"We're going back to the days before the menace of plastic bags began blighting our town centres and countryside."