Plastic bag maker goes bust 'due to introduction of 5p charge'

5p charge: The measure was introduced in October

Benjamin Wright/PA

Tom Marshall1 March 2016

A plastic bag manufacturer has blamed the new 5p charge for causing it to go bust.

Nelson Packaging has gone into administration after 40 years in business, with 40 people losing their jobs at its factory.

Managing director Michael Flynn was quoted by the BBC saying the Lancashire firm’s troubles were mainly down to "the English bag legislation and corresponding impact on customer and retailer demand".

Robert Copeland, a union rep at Nelson, who had been with the firm since 1986, told the BBC that staff were informed on Wednesday and asked to leave the factory immediately.

He said: “It's daunting as I have no interview skills. I'm 49 years old and I've got to now go into a new working environment and start again. It is scary.”

Mr Flynn also blamed "aggressive overseas competition", the BBC said, while an unnamed worker claimed the 5p charge only had a "slight but not a massive impact".

The policy was brought in across English supermarkets in October after earlier being introduced across the rest of the UK between 2011 and 2014.

Statistics show it has been responsible for huge falls in plastic bag use of 70 per cent and higher in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.