COLNE is bidding to become Lancashire's first carrier bag free town.

It is hoped that by the end of this year, every resident will have been given a large cotton or jute re-useable shopping bag to encourage them to ditch the carrier.

The national Plastic Bag Free campaign is targeting Colne after successes in Modbury, Devon, and Hebden Bridge.

Colne resident David Penney, a member of the Lancashire Community Recycling Network, has been driving the campaign forward for the town.

They have applied for a grant from a county council climate change fund and if the cash comes through, Mr Penny said they aimed to provide each of Colne's 8,300 homes with a re-useable bag.

And the campaign could be extended to Foulridge, Lane-shawbridge and Trawden if they get enough money.

The campaigners would also seek to persuade shops to ditch carrier bags.

Hebden Bridge became the largest town to join the scheme in September 2007.

And already it has 59 shops signed up to be plastic bag free.

Mr Penny believes Colne would enjoy similar success.

He said: "We are working in partnership with Friends of the Earth, Pendle Environ-mental Network and Colne in Bloom among other organ-isations, including Pendle Council.

"We have applied for a grant through the Lancashire Locals Climate Change Fund and our next steps will be dependent on the response from that.

"Our committee is hoping to purchase alternative shopping bags, made from natural, organic materials, and that are re-usable, sustainable and biodegradeable.

"We also need to ensure that the supplier we buy the re-useable bags from, produces them in an environmental and ethical manner.

"Ideally we'd like to supply the 8,300 homes in Colne with one re-usable bag per house-hold. If we get enough funding, we'd like to extend that offer to include the villages of Foulridge, Laneshawbridge and Trawden."

The Plastic Bag Free campaign began in the small Devon community of Modbury.

All of Modbury's traders stopped using plastic carrier bags and started selling re-useable and biodegradeable bags instead, made from materials such as corn starch and cotton.