PLASTIC bags may soon be a thing of the past in the capital if London’s council leaders get their way.

Bosses at Bromley and Bexley councils have approved a Bill that, if passed, will see a complete ban on free, throwaway shopping bags.

The decision comes after a month-long consultation by London councils which saw 90 per cent of respondents call for some sort of action on shopping bags and 60 per cent urging an outright ban.

The Bill is due to be delivered to Parliament at the end of the month and London councils chairman Merrick Cockell said: “The campaign to rid the capital of the environmental blight of throwaway shopping bags begins here. I urge all Londoners to voice their support to their MP and back the Bill once it gets to Parliament.”

Each person in the UK uses around 220 bags in a year with only one bag in 200 likely to be recycled.

The bags can then take more than 400 years to break down in landfill sites.