A Fairbourne schoolgirl has launched a campaign to stop a publisher’s use of plastic toys in its magazines.

Skye Neville, who is 10, has written to Kennedy Publishers to express concern at the amount of plastic used in their publications. She has also started a petition which has received over 2,100 signatures.

Skye said: “I am very concerned by the amount of plastic that is still being produced, thrown away and polluting our oceans and environment.

“This is why I want the magazine and comic publishers to really care for the environment and stop giving away plastic toys with their publications.

“I really enjoy reading the magazines, particularly Horrible Histories, but I just want the magazine, I don’t want or need the cheap plastic toys which are either played with for a few minutes or break on the first use and then are thrown away.

“Any ‘gifts’ that the magazines offer should be sustainable and ethical so that we can protect our planet for us and future generations.”

Skye also received an email from Liz Saville Roberts MP, who asked the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in Parliament what steps the department is taking to restrict the distribution of plastic toys with children’s magazines.

Skye added: “I have already written to the publishers, who have replied saying they are ‘working very hard to make our magazines more environmentally friendly’.

“They also state that the toys ‘can be played with again and again offering enjoyment to lots of children’ and that ‘the toys can be recycled in some areas’.

“This is not acceptable. McDonald’s has recently stopped putting plastic toys in their Happy Meals. If they can do the right thing, so can the publishers.”

Kennedy Publishers sent a response to Skye when she contacted them regarding their use of plastic toys in their magazines.

"The publishers said they share Skye’s concerns about the effect that plastic has on the environment and offered to take her plastic gifts for them to be recycled.

The Cambrian News has approached Kennedy Publishing for a comment.

To sign Skye’s petition, visit http://chng.it/jrBndKMx