MORE than a dozen businesses in Bradford on Avon are backing a campaign to rid the town of single use plastic straws.

The move follows a campaign by Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon and Plastic-Free BoA who support the use of paper alternatives to reduce the impact on the environment.

The campaigns follow the broadcast of Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet 2 television series last year and the film A Plastic Ocean.

The programmes showed the impact that plastic is having on the world’s environment, in particular the rivers and oceans, and how it is harming wildlife.

John Pearce, said: “The revelation of the damage being done by plastic to the natural world came as a shock to many.

“We have come a long way from celebrating plastic as a wonder material and the tupperware parties in the Sixties, to modern Return the Plastic events at supermarkets.

“We set the Final Straw campaign about seven months ago to encourage people to give up using single-use plastic items such as straws, stirrers, coffee cups and cartons.

“We are trying to get people to think about how much plastic they use and getting them to reduce the amount they are using.”

Mr Pearce has launched a social media group with more than 140 members to further his campaign and has approached Bradford on Avon’s hospitality businesses asking them to switch to other alternatives to plastic.

More than 14 businesses are now backing the town’s Final Straw campaign to eliminate the use of plastic straws.Two-thirds have already stopped using plastic and others have expressed their support.

They include Iford Manor near Westwood, and the No. 10 café at Avoncliff, All Things Nice in the town centre, and many of the town’s public houses and hotels, including the Swan Hotel, the Woolley Grange Hotel, the Stumble Inn, the Three Horseshoes, the Rising Sun and the Dog & Fox.

Mr Pearce added: “It would be nice if we can persuade 100 per cent of the town’s businesses to switch to paper alternatives.

“We are trying to make Bradford on Avon a plastic-free community.”

“The City of Wells has already achieved that status.”

The Secret Garden says its next order for straws will be for compostable ones.

The café already uses compostable take away boxes and cups and supports fair trade products.

Iford Manor fully supports the campaign and has a high-level stewardship scheme to make sure they use only bio-degradeable straws.

The Woolley Grange Hotel had already decided to use up stock and no longer gives out plastic straws to customers.

The Thai Barn restaurant is also fully supportive, switching to paper straws and using only bio-degradeable packaging for its takeaway meals.

The Swan Hotel in Church Street-will only give out straws on request and is phasing in wooden stirrers.

The hotel also supports the town’s Refill scheme, trying to reduce plastic waste by allowing visitors and residents to refill their plastic water bottles instead of buying new ones.

Hartley Farm at Winsley will only give straws on request in future and has phased out the use of cling film to cover food products.

It is offering customers a 20p discount if they bring their own cup for take away drinks.