Banbury's MP visited a water filter company's headquarters in Bicester to discuss their campaign to reduce single-use plastic bottles.

Victoria Prentis was accompanied by Rupert Harrison, the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for the newly created Bicester and Woodstock seat.

Their visit to BRITA UK's base included a tour of both the head office and the on-site factory.

They discussed BRITA’s ‘Reach for the Reusable’ campaign, as well as the government's 25 year environment plan.

Ms Prentis helped in launching the campaign in Parliament, which aims to curb plastic pollution and promote a culture of reuse.

David Hall, the managing director of BRITA UK, said: "Victoria is a long-standing champion for the local area and for protecting environment, so we were delighted to welcome her to our newly refurbished offices to tell her more about our campaign to cut down single use plastic water bottles across England.

"BRITA believes that to achieve the UK’s goal to eliminate single-use plastic waste, we need better infrastructure to mainstream a circular culture of refill and reuse.

"Extending the provision of water fountains would be a significant step to cut down the amount of avoidable plastic waste produced every year."

"We look forward to continuing to work closely with Victoria to promote sustainability in both Bicester and the country.”

Victoria Prentis added: "With litter and pollution being entirely a problem that we create, it is important that we all work towards changing our behaviour.

"I welcome the responsible action BRITA has been taking to make it easier to reach for reusables."

BRITA's ongoing campaign is advocating for the introduction of more water fountains across England to favour use of reusable bottles over environmentally harmful single-use plastic ones.

It aims for developers to integrate water refill points at high footfall and social interaction sites, helping towns like Bicester to cope better with heatwaves.

BRITA's efforts to promote the use of refillable water bottles are backed by a survey conducted among 2000 UK adults, revealing 70 per cent of Brits would prefer using a refillable water bottle, provided it was convenient to refill in public.

Around 13 million tonnes of plastic leaking into our oceans annually originates from litter discarded in towns and cities.

Rupert Harrison, said: "BRITA is a great local employer that is saving the planet at the same time.

"Being able to refill your water bottle should be easy wherever you are, and something we should be developing into public spaces by default."

BRITA is installing 218 solar panels to generate clean, low-carbon electricity at the Bicester factory and reducing plastic content in its products and packaging.