St Austell Brewery is to call time on the use of single-use plastic straws in all of its managed pubs and hotels across the South West, as part of its wider commitment to sustainable practices.

Having already moved from single-use plastic straws to green biodegradables last year, the Brewery, which owns an estate of 180 South West inns and hotels, has taken the extra step of switching to paper straws.

Brewery CEO James Staughton said: ‘Much like the campaign to curb the use of single-use plastic bags in supermarkets, we believe we can all have a practical effect on the volumes of plastic being used and how people think about single-use plastics more generally.’

Thanking commercial partner Abbotts Catering Supplies for their support in making the decision work at ground level, procurement director Andrew Holden added, ‘With great campaigns such as the Final Straw already in operation, we’re all aiming to make Cornwall the first plastic straw-free county in the UK and it’s absolutely achievable.’

The Final Straw Cornwall, the campaign to phase out plastic straws, was the brainchild of 69-year-old businesswoman and grandmother Pat Smith and North Coast surfer James Neale.