An eco-activist is calling on people to ditch single-use Christmas crackers and gift wrapping - and use brown paper or cloth instead.

Campaigner Bernadette Fisher, from Whitstable, says if people were to buy them she would "rather they would be made from things which could be re-used or recycled".

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"People are asking themselves seriously this Christmas how they can make it less about throw-away consumption but also single-use plastics," the former Gorrell ward councillor said.

"Generally speaking the paper is non-recyclable and the gift inside [the cracker] - the first thing people do with them is chuck them away. How many times have you kept something inside a cracker and used it again?

"It would be fantastic if there was a ban on unnecessary single-use plastic. There isn’t any reason why there should be any single-use plastic.

"We are finding ways of making them without it. We are not saying no plastic at all, we are saying to re-use."

The Plastic Free Whitstable member also opposes single-use wrapping paper and has called for alternatives such as "cloth and brown paper which you can write on and stamp snowflakes on".

"Think about everything you are using at Christmas," she said. "Don’t throw away everything, if you have got plastic tinsel then re-use it. Think of some alternative like paper chains, and snowflake cut-outs.

"They are a lovely tradition and it’s not we have a downer on Christmas crackers, we are saying make them in a way which is more sustainable."

Plastic Free Whitstable have teamed up with Who Let the Dads Out? to host the event Crap Free Crackers. Parents and children will be making crackers together to "ditch the plastic this Christmas".

The event will be held this Saturday, from 10.30am to 12pm at St John's Methodist Church in Whitstable.

Ms Fisher added: "I think if we get a community Christmas cracker session each year then that would be a lovely community thing to do. Clearly, if people are going to buy them in the shops we would rather they would be made from things which could be re-used or recycled.

"If you think about it it is a toilet roll with a joke inside, a snapper, a hat, wrap brown paper and wrap string around it.

"This is just a toe in the water and most of the feedback has been positive."

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