Woolies in backflip after bags ban anger

WOOLWORTHS has done a major backflip on its plastic bag ban and will now hand out free reusable bags to shoppers for the next 10 days.

The supermarket giant has responded to outrage by customers just one week after they dumped single- use plastic bags in all their stores in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

Irate customers have complained about having to pay for bags at the checkout while some shoppers have not had enough of their own bags to take away all their own groceries in.

Others annoyed customers who had simply forgotten to bring their own bags have also voiced their frustration at having to pay for their own shopping bags.

Woolworths managing director of supermarkets Claire Peters said they had responded to customer feedback and shoppers would now be able to get free 15c reusable bags until Sunday, July 8.

“Since we have phased out single- use plastic bags nationwide on the 20th of June some customers have told us that getting into the habit of bringing their own reusable bags has been a challenge,” she said.

“While some customers have forgotten their reusable bags altogether many have done the right thing and brought their own only to end up one or two reusable bags short.”

Customers will be able to get as many bags as they need at no charge so they can take away their groceries.

However, this will not apply to locations outside of the four states where the ban has been implemented this month.