MELKSHAM Mayor, Cllr Adrienne Westbrook, is spearheading a council campaign to rid the town of single-use plastic.

In the BBC Blue Planet series, presenter Sir David Attenborough horrified many viewers by showing the impact of discarded plastic on the environment and marine life.

Cllr Westbrook said: “The absolute devastation that he showed was far worse than I could have ever imagined.

“If we all make small changes and stop using plastic bags, cups and straws it could make a huge difference to the pollution of the world’s oceans and rivers.”

She says Melksham Town Council needs to set a good example by encouraging the local community to stop using plastic bags, plastic straws, drinks cups and other items.

A similar campaign in Bradford on Avon is already succeeding in ridding the town of plastic straws and reducing the use of plastic cups.

Melksham Town Council is also hoping to set up a local plastic bottle recycling point for residents to use.

Cllr Westbrook said: “We need to set a precedent to minimise the use of plastic and then after that, we can launch a campaign for the town to follow.”

The council has already signed up to the Refill campaign, which enables residents and visitors to refill their re-usable bottles with water from the Town Hall tap rather than buying new ones.

Cllr Westbrook said: “This is just the tip of the iceberg. I would like us to take it a step further and look at single-use plastic in the Assembly Hall and see whether or not we can ask them to remove plastic straws.

“I also want to see what the possibility is of removing any plastic cups and anything that is single-use.

“I’ve been looking into whether the Assembly Hall can bulk-buy plastic-free items, which can then be supplied to smaller organisations.

“If we can set up a scheme, it will help to reduce the amount of single-use plastic in the town.”