A HAMPSHIRE music festival is set to become one of the first in the country to ban single use plastic straws.

Common People festival in Southampton, along with Bestival and Camp Bestival in Dorset, is set to ban single use plastic straws as part of a green campaign.

Rob da Bank, Bestival promoter, said: “Festivals are potentially big consumers of plastics and non-recyclables and all of us in the festival world need to keep working on reducing those elements at our festivals.

“Hats off to those already doing it and leading from the front… and to the rest of us let’s make it happen.”

Straws have become a fresh concern for environmentalists who are keen to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up washed up in our oceans.

The initiative forms part of the Final Straw campaign, set up by environmental group Greenpeace.

It aims to have all UK festivals committed to eradicating plastic straws in 2018 by Earth Day on April 22, prior to the festival season beginning, before extending the initiative to include all single-use plastics at festivals in subsequent years.

Currently, more than 8.5bn straws are used in the UK every year, according to Greenpeace.

Dr Laura Foster, head of clean seas at the Marine Conservation Society, said: “We’re are delighted to see Common People, Camp Bestival and Bestival are banning plastic straws from their events. We urge other businesses and festivals to follow Bestival.”