A garden centre has raised £2,567 just by charging for plastic bags, with the money going to the Marine Conservation Society.

Although not legally required to do so, Garsons of Esher has been asking customers to donate 5p to use one of their degradable bags since October 2015.

In the first six months, they raised £1,500.

The recent collection was made from plastic bag sales at the Esher site as well as its sister site in Titchfield, Hampshire, from April 2016 to March this year.

Garsons director Ben Thompson said: “We are very proud to support the Marine Conservation Society and the invaluable work it does to protect our sea life and coastlines. We have seen a notable drop in the use of bags which means our wonderful customers are equally prepared to help us in our quest to protect the environment.”

Ian Fraser, head of fundraising at the Marine Conservation Society, said: “These funds will help us enormously. Though we're a national charity, we've been working to help safeguard sea life at special sites around the Sussex coast, and we'll be back running cleans and surveys on beaches in Sussex and Hampshire this September.”