Paying for carrier bags.

Ha-ha! Cari, if you believe that you'll believe anything.

Mind you, the upshot of that would eventually be a lot of Tesco shopping trolleys dumped in a canal somewhere. That will certainly be good for the environment. (Is anyone else fed up with hearing about the environment? It's being used as an excuse for everything these days.)

Ooh now not just a black market in plastic bags but supermarket baskets as well. Come on, 'fess up who's got them in their shed/garage?

Oh, yes, sorry, Cari - the Daily Mail never lies, does it?

I wonder if all this nonsense is a ruse to get us to buy EVERYTHING on-line? We could turn all the shops into flats and accommodate the whole of Syria......... (drifts off into a realm of fantasy).....

Have you notice the date on that article....2012.

Yes - and it's about a supermarket in North Wales...

Never thought about the shoplifting aspect, this must be a nighmare for shops.If I didn't have a bag I would buy one as would feel uncomfortable walking out of a store holding goods.

You are missing the point about the article. It shows that things didn't go quite as smoothly when this idea was introduced in Wales. Of course it's from 2012, That's when it started in Wales.

We will wait and see if it happens in England. It probably will. In Knightsbridge.

I've done it quite a few times - admittedly in a retail park where my car was parked close by. No problem.

The shops should at least have large sheets of paper to protect clothing. Paper doesn't harm the environment.

And will there be job losses at the plastic bag factories?

What? Stolen a wire basket?!

No of course not! Taken paid-for stuff from shops without a bag...

Oh. Phew!!!

I have been known to get to my car and realise that I still have the Waitrose self scan zapper thingy in my hand

Bought a Coast dress yesterday in Debenham's and was handed it, wrapped carefully in tissue, in a substantial (free) carrier with string handles.
Here in Scotland, I'm happy to buy the occasional bag if I know the proceeds go to charity, but always have a little fold-up bag.
Makes you realise how fortunate we are if such a trivial issue causes such an uproar!
If Wales, N Ireland and Scotland can cope I'm sure the ever-resilient english will find a way!
Keep it in proportion!

A great idea to keep one of those strong paperbag with string handles separate in the other bag for clothes- so easy once you get used to it, honest.

I find it shocking how many people on facebook complain about the 5p charge,yet some people think nothing of spending £50-£60 a night in a pub or club. I have been paying for carrier bags as long as I can remember. I am from Germany and in the 70's we paid 10 Pfennig (which I'm sure is more than 5p) . My mother never went without a bag or wicker shopping basket and her local supermarket supplies brown papaer bags. Like all the handmade shoppers by the way

Free paper bag in Joules today, came in useful,for my Jaegar trousers and matching Mint Velvet top as the assistant looked decidedly sniffy about my DGS's nursery cloth bag!

I'm enjoying seeing shop assistants' faces when their products go into a rival's bag

Snooty assistant in Coast looked like she was going to faint or have apoplexy when my purchase went into a Primark paper carrier bag!

We bought some Waitrose canvas bags because they stand squarely when you fill them.
We take them wherever we go food shopping (Waitrose, Lidls, Morrison's, M&S, Aldi etc etc) because we do the rounds.

I think they have just got used to it in Wales.

In France they have been charging for years in many supermarkets. The bags are more expensive than UK but they are also far superior - a reinforced plastic with fabric handles and a lot larger. I am a bit OCD I realise but I fold them up each time I have used them and keep a couple in the car and others folded in my basket. They are nicely decorated and in most cases the name of the supermarket is quite discreet.

I love Greggs and the people who serve us are very nice and hard working.

We were in there today and within seconds of buying bread there was a big hole in the 5p plastic bag we bought, before we had even left the shop.

OK we should have brought our own shopping bags because we knew the charge was coming in today. However even though the plastic bag is cheap, it still needs to be fit for purpose and Greggs is not so we should hand it back and get one that is fit for purpose.

Why didn't you do that at the time?

Probably the hot Cornish pasty burned a hole in the bag?