A VILLAGE pet store is taking a big step in banning single use plastics by introducing a zero waste pet food refill station.

Pets Pantry in Stockton Heath has launched a brand new way for customers to buy pet food, free from excess plastic and packaging.

A selection of pet and wildlife foods will soon be available to decant into reusable or eco-friendly containers for customers to take straight home.

A spokesperson for Pets Pantry said: "It is great that there are lots of zero waste human food shops popping up throughout the UK, but we believe we are the first pet store to introduce a zero-waste refill option for pet food.

"Even though we have for many years recycled and reused our waste plastic, we now want to go that step further and ultimately try to reduce all our single use plastic.

"Our refill station is now available in store with our official launch date of Tuesday, August 27.

"This launch day will give customers an opportunity to use the dispensers and talk to us about our aims as well as celebrating with us on what we see as a unique opportunity within a pet store environment.

"The response from our customers this far has been very positive, as like us, they want to include their pets purchases in helping to protect the planet for the future."

The London Road store has added a self-service system with weighing scales to quicken the process.

Customers can also make use of a deposit jar scheme, paying a £1 deposit for a container that can be reused to collect food from the dispensers.