Children school have been asked not to buy red noses for Comic Relief this year to reduce single-use plastics.

Parents of pupils at Westmeads Community Infant School in Cromwell Road, Whitstable, have been urged to avoid buying the accessories, which are usually made of plastic and sold to raise money for the international charity.

They are instead invited to come to school on Red Nose Day today with “hilarious heads” - including painted faces, wacky hairdos and decorated glasses.

In an email to parents, a school spokesman said: “With our recent focus on reducing the use of single use plastics, we would like to discourage buying new Comic Relief red noses and either to re-use old ones or paint on red noses instead and donate the money directly to Comic Relief.”

Head teacher Helen Lambirth says the school is working to stamp out plastic, and is keen to support the Plastic Free Whitstable campaign which recently helped the town become the first in Kent to gain “plastic-free” status from marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage.

She said: “The children have been really inspired by our recent Coastal Alliance work in the Horsebridge Centre exhibition on raising awareness of single-use plastics in response to David Attenborough’s programme, The Blue Planet.

“We have requested to stop using children’s milk cartons with plastic straws and now use reusable cups - we also have a recycling station for crisp packets.

“Therefore, we felt we shouldn’t ask families to buy plastic red noses to use for just one day.”

It comes months after a school in Cornwall received a letter of support from Sir David Attenborough for taking the decision to switch plastic red noses for sustainable alternatives.