TWENTY people supported a ‘Plastic Attack’ protest at the Tesco superstore in Winnall to highlight the use of plastic.

They did their shopping and discarded the plastic and reused containers.

Milk was poured into glass bottles, cheese from plastic went into greaseproof paper as well as fruit, veg and pasta being decanted into customers’ containers.

Organiser Caroline Kirkman said: “Today isn’t about bashing supermarkets - it’s about changing our buying habits to encourage supermarkets to change their use of plastics.

“It’s not going to be an overnight thing. Supermarkets have challenges about how they store and handle food in a healthy safe way and we have become dependent on plastic for our convenience. But we can make choices about how we buy goods - we can make sure we understand as much about recycling locally as possible.”

Someone unimpressed about the protest was city MP Steve Brine, who said: “From the Prime Minister down, the Government has shown huge commitment on this issue, most recently announcing our intention to ban the sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds.

“We’re going to consult without delay on how we ban these items to protect our rivers and meet our ambitious environment plan to eliminate avoidable plastic waste. That plan includes banning plastic microbeads, extending our 5p plastic bag charge to all retailers and drawing up plans for a plastic bottle deposit return scheme.

“We all want to get to the same place but, for me, these stunts are fundamentally the wrong approach and contrast with Final Straw Winchester, as an alternative example, which is working sensibly and in partnership with local businesses and councils and that’s why I am helping them and working closely with what is a positive campaign.”