CHRISTMAS shoppers in Pill will be able to take their gifts home in environmentally-friendly bags this festive season.

CHRISTMAS shoppers in Pill will be able to take their gifts home in environmentally-friendly bags this festive season.

Four residents have teamed up to turn the village greener and have produced 2,000 new cotton bags to sell.

The bags feature all the names of the shops in Pill, Easton-in-Gordano and Ham Green on one side and photos of interesting sights from the villages on the other.

Madeline Bickle, is a member of the Easton-in-Gordano, Pill and Ham Green Community Forum's environment group, which is launching the new carriers.

The group was set up after residents indicated in the parish plan that they would like their villages to become more environmentally friendly.

She said: "We are a small group which is trying to do things to improve the villages.

"This scheme will help to reduce the use of plastic bags and promote local shops."

The group is already thinking about its next project and members are hoping to promote and sell low energy light bulbs to help people to reduce their carbon footprints.

The cotton bags, priced £1, are available from the stores and charity shops in the villages and the group will also be selling them in the precinct in Pill on Saturday (December 15) from 11am-2pm.