A retailer in Gloucestershire has devised a novel way to reduce the number of sweet wrappers and drinks bottles discarded around her store.

Yvonne Froud of Joys Green post office in the Forest of Dean writes the names of the children who buy snacks and drinks on the packaging in permanent black marker, so if the wrappers are found thrown on the ground, they can be traced back to the purchaser.

If they come from one of the children who shop in her store, Yvonne either bans them temporarily or gets them to pick up litter as punishment.

"About a month ago I was walking around the village and was so disgusted by the amount of litter strewn around that I thought something had to be done about it," she said.

She reports that the campaign has been working well so far and that the area is beginning to look cleaner. "It is just a question of taking responsibility. Nobody has really complained. If they do then we'll take it into account," she said.

Yvonne isn't limiting the campaign to children and is prepared to extend it to adults if the litter problem doesn't improve. "I will have to do it with adults if they start littering too," she warned.