A WEAVERHAM woman has found herself leading a campaign to cut plastic use across Northwich – after her idea went viral on Facebook.

Tina Hickman was left overwhelmed by support from users of the Northwich Life Facebook page after she made a post calling on the town's schools, businesses and community groups to ditch single-use plastics.

Among the hundreds of responses she had to her post were suggestions to contact Northwich Town Council and Transition Northwich.

Both parties are now getting behind Tina's push for a greener Northwich – the town where polythene, the world's most widely-used plastic, was discovered in 1933.

"I've always been one for recycling and I've done my bit for decades," Tina told the Guardian.

"As one of her new year's resolutions my daughter decided to stop using plastics – I thought about it, then all of a sudden my fingers started moving on the keyboard.

"I didn't expect the response I have had. I've never done something like this before but now I'm talking at meetings, and people keep asking me how the campaign is going."

Tina insists she has 'many ideas going around my head' – from lobbying independent shops to switch from plastic to paper bags, to pushing schools and businesses to use glasses or refillable bottles for water instead of disposable cups.

"Plastic is an amazing product, and without it we couldn't do so much of what we do now," Tina said.

"But we need to show the world that Northwich did not just invent the material killing the planet, but that the town made a real difference."

Tina attended meetings with both Northwich Town Council and Transition Northwich on Monday, January 8.

Her unlikely crusade caught the imagination of town councillors, with Cllr Brian Jamieson suggesting this year's Community Fun Weekend could have an eco theme, while mayor Cllr Janet Myerscough-Illidge pointed Tina towards applying for funding.

Cllr Andrew Cooper said: "Northwich is the town where polythene was invented.

"There is a nice symmetry to us taking a lead now in cutting down the use of plastics."

Cllr Paul Dolan added: "We've got to look at innovative ways of dealing with waste. It's about changing behaviour, and councils have got to take a lead on this.

"It is here where the problem has originated in a sense, and if we can take a lead on that it is a good message from the ground up, so I am full of support for it."

Transition Northwich is also backing Tina's campaign, and it is considering a certificate scheme for the town's businesses which are environmentally-friendly.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has also passed a motion to push for the end of plastic straws across the borough.