M&S appears to be winning its war against plastic bags after the company announced yesterday that its policy of charging for food carrier bags has led to an 80 per cent drop in the number it distributes.

The company said that its customers have used 70m fewer plastic bags in the ten weeks since the five pence charge was introduced.

M&S chairman Sir Stuart Rose said that the controversial decision to impose a charge on plastic bags had been vindicated.

"It is fair to say that M&S' carrier bag charging policy has provoked a lot of debate," he said. "But these figures show that the overwhelming majority of our customers support charging and are already helping us to make a huge difference by bringing their own bags in with them when they shop with us."

M&S said that the scheme had also raised over £200,000 for the Groundwork charity, which is being invested in the creation of "greener living spaces" across the UK.