Hundreds of re-useable jute shoulder bags will be given out by an Ely chartered accountancy firm in a bid to turn the city plastic bag-free.

Lovewell Blake’s has commissioned the large capacity jute bags to encourage people to make the switch from plastic.

Staff at the Lynn Road office are the latest to sign up to the iniatiative after the accountants had noticed many clients bringing in files and documents in plastic bags.

“People always think of shops and supermarkets as being where plastic bag use takes place, but we believe that every business in Ely has a responsibility to help its customers phase out the use of plastic bags,” said Leigh Thurston, partner at the firm’s Ely office.

“Although our new bags are specially designed to carry folders and documents, we hope people will use them when they go shopping as well, cutting down still further on the need for single-use bags.”

Lovewell Blake, which has ten offices across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire has undertaken a number of initiatives over the past 18 months to reduce plastic usage, including issuing every member of staff with a water bottle in order to phase out single-use plastic cups at water coolers across the firm.

Ely announced in October that it was aiming to be the first city in the UK to be declared plastic bag-free.