Bradford-born artist David Hockney could become the face of Saltaire's "ban the bag" campaign.

The artist, who has become synonymous with Salts Mill, is the obvious choice to design a carrier to replace plastic bags at the World Heritage Site.

Asking for Mr Hockney's help is just one idea being conjured up by the village's three Green Party ward councillors, who are fronting the campaign to rid the streets of plastic bags in Saltaire.

And the three - Coun Kevin Warnes, Coun Martin Love and Coun Hawarun Hussain - hope to implement the initiative in July next year.

Suppliers of environmentally-friendly bags have been sourced and one idea is for a "Saltaire Bag" to be introduced, which would depict a feature in the village.

The scheme has been tried and tested in Hebden Bridge, where trade has actually increased following the publicity surrounding the ban.

Over the next few weeks, traders in Saltaire will be asked to sign up to the scheme.

Bradford Council has pledged 1,000 bags for life' for residents in Shipley, and the councillors will ask full Council members to support the ban and to encourage other residents and community organisations to act when they meet next week.

Coun Warnes said: "We think we are pushing an open door. Traders are the key to the success of the whole scheme, they hand out bags and they need to persuade people to take away alternatives.

"We need to go to the traders and find out what bags are used for and then go back to them with specific proposals."

The village's largest store, the Co-op, is important to the success of the scheme.

A spokesman said: "The Co-operative Group and other co-operative societies are piloting home compostable, starch-based bags in a number of locations and are also supporting community-led initiatives across the country, to reduce the use of plastic carrier bags."

  • Young entrepreneurs from Woodhouse Grove School are selling Fairtrade canvas reusable bags filled with Fairtrade goodies as part of a business project. The bags will be sold for £8.99 and proceeds will be sent to Samson Chivatsi Children's Appeal.

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