A CAMPAIGN launched today aims to make Oxford the first plastic bag-free city in the UK.

On the day Oxford City Council hosts its first climate change conference, delegates will be told of plans to persuade supermarkets, stores and independent shops in the city to ditch environmentally-unfriendly plastic bags.

The call will come from council leader John Goddard, who organised today's Climate Change Oxford, conference and wants "shopper pressure" to bring about a sea change in attitudes to plastic packaging.

Mr Goddard will write to major supermarkets, shops and stores in Oxford asking them to ditch plastic bags and cut packaging.

He will tell the summit the city could lead the green agenda if shoppers said no to excessive plastic. The idea mirrors what traders in Modbury, Devon, did earlier this year when shopkeepers stopped providing plastic bags. Shoppers now used 100 per cent biodegradable bags.

Mr Goddard said: "We need to encourage shoppers to say 'I don't want a plastic bag' and encourage supermarkets to make the shift.

"What it needs is willing co-operation and shopper pressure.

"I refuse plastic bags if I am offered one and I want as many shoppers in the city as possible to follow suit.

"Oxford is well tuned into the Green agenda. If I was some other place I am not sure I would be bold enough to run a climate change conference, but I detect serious concern about how we can make life better for our children and grandchildren."

Prof Lord May of Oxford, former chief scientific adviser to the UK Government and past President of the Royal Society, was due to open today's event at the Town Hall, which runs from 2-8pm and is open to all.

City Green group leader Craig Simmons said: "You can't legally force retailers not to stock plastic bags, it would probably require national legislation.

"But by making an effort Oxford is showing there is willingness for individual cities to go forward. Anything we can do to reduce packaging is welcome."

Mr Goddard discussed with Town Hall solicitors the idea of passing a by-law banning plastic bags but was told the idea was a non-starter.

A tax on plastic shopping bags in the Republic of Ireland has cut their use by more than 90 per cent and raised millions in revenue.

Major supermarkets in France no longer give away plastic bags, selling reusable ones instead.