As well as encouraging residents, shops and businesses to stop using plastic bags and wrappings, the bags also encourage people to shop locally with the message 'Think Melton Shop Melton' displayed on the front along with the outline of a pork pie and other eye-catching purple and pink pictures.

An initial 1,400 of the jute bags have been made and are now on the sale for £1 via Melton Cheeseboard and the Town Estate. It's hoped more town centre retailers will stock the bags in the future.

The bag, designed by a group of Melton Learning Hub students, was launched as part of the town's Christmas light switch on on Friday (Nov 28).

A number of organisations have been involved in the initiative including the Melton Town Centre Partnership, Melton Council and Melton Learning Hub. Local food giant Mars and The Welland Partnership have also given their support, with both organisations providing £1,000 funding.

Town centre manager Lisa Hammond said: "We want a plastic bag free environment in the town centre and want to encourage people to shop locally.

"We're selling the bags for £1 this week and during the run up to Christmas and it's a non-profit making initiative. We've had a good response so far and quite a lot of interest in them."

If the bags prove a success in the town then money generated from sales will be used to make and supply more.

Lisa added: "A lot of local businesses have already gone to paper bags. They're doing it off their own backs already. The Melton bag is another way of encouraging people to do their bit as well as promoting the town.

"We're really pleased with the bag. When we saw the students' design we thought it was spot on and they really enjoyed doing the project."

Melton Mayor Mal Sheldon, who was at the launch, said: "We put a motion through earlier this year to try and be a plastic bag-free town. It's a community effort to encourage recycling and promote the town and we're now putting words into action."




Plastic bags factfile




* We use on average 167 carrier bags a year


* Only one in every 200 bags is recycled


* Bags take 400-plus years to break down in landfill sites


* One in 10 accept a bag for an item they will use right away


* 80 per cent of shoppers put everything into free carrier bags


* Eight million bags are distributed in the UK every year, of which each is used for an average of just 12 minutes


* Plastic does not bio-degrade, it photo-degrades into toxic particles which enter the food chain because they are eaten by animals and birds or go into water supplies.