Drive to rid area of plastic bags

The campaign aims to highlight how plastic bags affect marine life

A whale made from wicker has marked the launch of a week-long campaign in north London urging local people to stop using plastic bags.

Campaigners in Newington Green have appealed to 3,500 local residents and 48 shops in the area.

The 16ft-long whale that kick-started the drive, has been stuffed with carrier bags to represent the threat of plastic bags to marine life.

More than 800 people have pledged never to use plastic, campaigners said.

The initiative was inspired by the BBC film Message in the Waves and a similar campaign in Modbury, Devon, which saw the town become a permanent plastic-free zone last year.

'Bigger challenge'

Orlando Joplin, from "Plastic bag free Newington Green Campaign" said: "The plastic bag free week is the first step towards a complete ban this Autumn.

"This is in an area with diverse communities, including many people who don't have English as their first language, and hence it is a far bigger challenge."

Local shops also agreed to display a Newington Green organic cotton bag.

Newington Green falls in the boroughs of Islington and Hackney and campaigners have received support from both councils as well as environmental groups including Friends of the Earth.