Nature Features

The "Turn Lyme Green" action group has been talking to a local holiday company and to hotel and bed and breakfast owners to persuade them to give the bags directly to guests so they can use them during their stay in the seaside town.

Candida Blaker from Turn Lyme Green said: "We want to be asking them (the tourists) to help us protect our beautiful heritage to ensure that they can continue to come here and enjoy Lyme Regis as a splendid place to come and visit."

The cloth bags, with the jurassic fossil logo were designed by pupils at Woodruffe School in the town.

They were first launched in November 2007 when every household in Lyme Regis was given one. Turn Lyme Green believes plastic bag usage has since dropped by 50%.

Plastic bag usage in the town is down.

Lyme Regis has followed the lead of Modbury in Devon which declared itself Britain's first bag-free town.

Since then others have followed including Wimborne, where the Town Council is working with traders to come up with alternatives to the plastic bag.

The team in Lyme Regis recognises helping the environment doesn't just stop at banning the bags. 

They're lobbying West Dorset District Council to increase the rates of home composting and boost kerb-side collections of material for recycling.