A CAMPAIGN to make Dorchester completely plastic bag free gained vital support at a plastic bag amnesty in the town centre.

More than a thousand used plastic bags were exchanged for bright new Dorchester Business Improvement District (BID) reusable cotton and canvas carriers at the amnesty yesterday.

The environmentally friendly organisers from Dorchester BID were joined by 12-year-old Sian Jones - who designed the green and red ‘love to be green’ bags.

She said: “It is really surprising now to see everyone with my bag.

“I never thought everyone would be walking around carrying my design on their bags.

“I think it’s really good how many people have come along today and swapped their bags to help the environment and I hope more people will get involved.”

The Sunninghill schoolgirl signed bags for customers during her lunch break.

Plastic bag hoarders were given a cotton bag if they handed in 20 used bags and a canvas bag if they handed in 40 plastic bags.

Since the project started last year Dorchester Bid has sold more than 3,000 cotton bags after getting many of the retailers in Dorchester to sell the bags in their stores.

Now a new bio-bag is on offer - which feels like plastic but is made out of corn starch and vegetable oil.

It means that people can put their groceries such as meat and fish in the bag and then when they have finished with it is degrades in a compost heap.

This is already on sale at Cerijan in High West Street.

Director of the Dorchester BID project Phil Gordon said: “We have made a great start to the project but we know that making Dorchester plastic bag free is ambitious and won’t happen over night.

“This is great but we need to do more and I appeal to residents that see the need to reduce the amount of bags used every year to encourage their local shops to sell our bags.”

Following the success of the bag design competition at Sunninghill School the competition will be opened up next year to all the schools in the area to come up with a new design.

After the amnesty the plastic bags collected were given to the Age Concern charity shop to be re-used.