Ribena has announced that it will stop selling plastic straws with its carton drinks products, in a bid to save an estimated 16 tonnes of plastic from being produced every year.

With a factory in Coleford, owners of the brand Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I said that cartons of the blackcurrant drink will instead come with a paper straw, however the wrapper for the straw will still be plastic.

The news comes ahead of a new government ban on plastic on-pack straws attached to cartons, which is expected to come into force in July.

Suntory first trialled the cartons with paper straws at Tesco stores across the country, and now plans for a full rollout to be complete by the end of April.

The business also has ambitions of having 100 per cent sustainable packaging across all product lines by 2030.

Jo Padwick, transformation manager at Suntory, said: "It is great to see our years of hard work getting such positive reviews from Ribena drinkers.

"We have taken into account all of the feedback to help us improve the new paper straw that is now being launched on the range across all stores.

"Saying goodbye to the final plastic straw is a great step on our journey towards 100% sustainable packaging by 2030."