The woman behind the Plastic Free Cumbria movement has criticised a campaign that sees images of the county's iconic landscape being used on millions of single-use water bottles.

Aqua Pura, which sources its water in the Eden valley and has a bottling plant near Armathwaite, uses pictures from Cumbria Tourism's #theplacetobe campaign on its plastic bottles.

But Marcia Frith, who is trying to raise awareness of the damage plastics are having on the environment, believes it is the wrong message for the county to be sending out to tourists.

She has written to Cumbria Tourism asking them to rethink the campaign featuring single-use plastic drinks bottles - which are contributing to the current environmental crisis.

Aqua Pura stresses its bottles are 100 per cent recyclable, and the company is committed to protecting the local environment.

Mrs Frith set up the Plastic Free Cumbria page on Facebook following the Blue Planet II TV series, which featured shocking footage documenting the impact plastic waste is having on marine life.

The group, which urges people across the county to boycott items like single-use plastic bottles and drinking straws, has gained more than 6,000 members in just weeks.

Mrs Frith believes the Aqua Pura campaign - which is part of its long-term partnership with Cumbria Tourism - does not paint Cumbria as an environmentally-friendly county.

"I live in Cumbria and I absolutely love it here. To read that Cumbria Tourism is supporting Aqua Pura and allowing these photos on their bottles really shocked me. I actually wrote to them.

"We live in the most beautiful place, but I do not think that should be advertised on a plastic bottle," she said.

"I was really taken aback by the partnership. I want us to advertise Cumbria, but not like this. Sticking a photo on an Aqua Pura bottle is not the answer. It is the wrong message.

"We use millions of plastic bottles every year. That blows my mind. We shouldn't be encouraging that."

Other local environmental campaigners have also raised concerns.

Aqua Pura, which is also sponsoring the Cumbria Tourism’s 2018 Attractions Guide and supports The Great North Swim in Windermere, launched the new bottles last summer.

Cumbria Tourism stressed that it was Aqua Pura - as an Eden valley business and member of the organisation - which asked for permission to use one of the images on its bottles.

Jim Walker, vice chairman of Cumbria Tourism, said they are talking to local campaigners about reducing waste.

“This issue is extremely important to us, and in recent months, we have been working closely with two local environmental groups - PACT (Penrith Action for Community Transition) and Zero Waste in Kendal – to listen to their views and agree a number of actions where we can highlight opportunities to tourism businesses to reduce waste in a range of different ways," he explained.

“As part of this work, we intend to signpost our member businesses to the nationwide water refill scheme and encourage them to sign up. We will also be highlighting other community schemes, such as one in Kendal, which offers council support to set up a bottle refill scheme.

"We will be doing this through our member website, and as these schemes become established in Cumbria, highlighting them on the ‘responsible tourism’ section of our visitor-facing website, GoLakes.”

An Aqua Pura spokesman said they are aware of concerns, but are working hard to reduce plastic waste and encourage recycling.

He explained: “We are proud of our Cumbrian heritage and the high quality bottled water produced by our 130 employees at Eden valley, and have partnered with Cumbria Tourism with the express purpose of protecting and promoting the area’s stunning setting and landscape.

“We do recognise that too much plastic packaging is thrown away as a society, and that much more effort needs to be made by all to reduce, reuse and recycle all types of plastic. All Aqua Pura bottles are 100 per cent recyclable. Since 2015 we have also used 25 per cent recycled plastic in all of our water bottles and we advocate that consumers should recycle their bottles responsibly after consumption.

“We have also been working with suppliers for some time to increase our 25 per cent figure, and we should see higher levels of recycled plastic become available in the near future.

"Our ultimate goal is for the UK to have a completely harmonious loop for recycling plastic bottles involving manufacturers, consumers, local authorities and recycling companies, which will significantly reduce the amount of single use plastics available.

“Additionally, our Eden valley site also has a strong track record of light weighting plastic bottles to reduce the plastic needed in combination with a range of activities to reduce energy consumption, effluent and transport miles. By investing in our operations, we have removed 200 tonnes of plastic from the bottles produced at the site in the last year alone.”

What action would you support to reduce plastic waste?

This is what readers told us on Facebook:

Emma Lunn: "We're trying to use less plastic wherever possible. There are loads of things people can do from home, for example using reusable drinks containers rather than buying drinks in plastic bottles or takeaway cups, using hand soaps rather than plastic pumps.

"I am also planning on making my own bees wax wraps to replace cling film. We have started to buy our fruit and veg from a local supplier rather than supermarkets. I think it's down to consumers to start putting more pressure on larger businesses to cut down on unnecessary plastic usage.

Stephen Mclean: "We have to start from the factories and work downwards to sort this problem out."

Michelle Richardson: "I’ve always recycled but since watching Sky’s Ocean Rescue I’ve been more aware of smaller items that I don’t usually recycle. I teach my children to recycle and they’ve watched programmes such as Plastic Whale to see the effects of using too much plastic."

Jo Braithwaite: "We never had this problem years ago. I think we need to cut down on plastic bottles, bags etc."

Ram Rod: "It's everyone's responsibility. I hope you are keeping a close eye on what happens to the plastics and other materials that we are rightly encouraged to recycle now that China is refusing to accept. It would be hypocrisy in the extreme if the materials we are encouraged to recycle end up going to landfill."

Anne Marie Allan: "We recycle all our plastic, so important to protect the wildlife."

Richard Key: "Here's an idea - when you're taking that full heavy plastic bottle on a picnic it's a lot lighter when it's empty - so if you can carry it full, you can definitely carry it back when its empty."