My friend is one of the biggest bag snobs I know. We're not talking Gucci or Chanel - although she would definitely be fussy in the high-fashion department too.

I am referring to carrier bags - the plastic ones we use at the checkout.

Not for all the cash in the Rollover Euromillions draw would she walk down the street sporting an Asda carrier.

As for Netto - she would much prefer death by 1,000 lashes in a public park than leave her house with one of those.

I'm the complete opposite. I regularly shop in Asda and will happily be seen with one of their carriers. I also frequent Netto, and carry the bright yellow bag with pride.

My children, however, are not so comfortable with Netto bags. "NO WAY! I'm not taking that," my eldest daughter protested when I handed her one of the - in my opinion fairly robust - carriers to transport cookery ingredients to school.

Through no fault of mine, she is well on her way to becoming what is commonly known as a bag snob'.

And there are plenty around. A survey has revealed us to be a nation of bag snobs, with 56 per cent of Britons believing their choice of supermarket reflects their place on the social ladder.

One in eight people believe that shopping at certain stores can make a person appear wealthier. People spend on average £260 a year extra to be seen in the right aisles, a survey has revealed. Many regard the supermarket they shop in as a great status symbol, with Waitrose topping the league, and cut-price stores such as Netto at the bottom.

All I can say is that, for the sake of the carrier, people must be crazy to miss out on the fantastic bargains to be had in cut-price stores. Take Lidl. I was elated after my first visit - it was so cheap. The bags aren't bad looking either. And when surfing the web to check out what's hot and what's not in the carrier bag department (yes, disturbingly, such sites do exist), I came across much praise for Aldi carriers, as robust and durable.

That brings me on to Harrods. People seem to hang on to these bags for years.

So reluctant are they to part with this scrap of plastic that it becomes just that - an unsightly, crumpled mess. But they don't care - it's the name that's important.

And the colour. Sometimes, even the stores you like get it wrong.

I recently mentioned to my bag snob pal - who does most of her shopping in M&S - how much I disliked their new lime green carriers. She became angry and told me how she too hated them, and refused to accept one at the checkout. "What was wrong with white?" she raged. "I'll be taking my own bags in future." She then directed her wrath towards Sainsbury's "tacky tangerine", which she thought was a Hallowe'en promotion.

Another friend refuses to use a carrier of any sort outside the supermarket car park. "I could never walk into town with my stuff in a carrier bag," she said. I made a quick, though sadly unsuccessful, attempt to hide my ageing, slightly careworn Tesco bag, which contained my purse, tissues, phone and other essentials.