SHOPPERS have been asked to make a final effort to re-use their plastic bags, as a recycling scheme nears its end.

Bags of Life has been running in conjunction with many Witney town centre shops for the past months but will finish at the end of January.

The campaign, run by Oxfordshire Town Chambers Network, aims to encourage people to take their own ‘bag for life’ or re-use an old plastic bag when they are out shopping instead of asking for a new bag.

Those who refuse a bag in a participating town shop are given a voucher which can be passed on to a participating school in Witney or neighbouring villages.

The schools that collect the most vouchers will win prizes to spend on environmental projects.

Laura Cooper, who won a competition to design the voucher used for the scheme, said: “Winning one of the prizes will mean a lot to children at the school and the environmental work they do in different projects so I hope everyone who has collected vouchers will make sure they get to one of the participating schools before the January 31 deadline.”

More than 90 shops and traders – including Waitrose, Boots, Somerfield and Debenhams – have signed up to be part of the scheme.

Waitrose section manager Elaine Lattimore said: “The campaign has definitely raised awareness of the need to reduce the number of plastic bags customers use.”

For more details about the scheme, visit otcn.co.uk/projects/plastic_bags.htm