Hundreds of mums-to-be across Somerset are being encouraged to buy washable nappies instead of disposable ones.

Somerset Waste Partnership is writing to 750 pregnant woman this week - saying that 'real' nappies will save them five hundred pounds a year, and prevent 800 kilogrammes of waste per baby from going to landfill.

Critics argue that both the financial and environmental benefits are cancelled out by the extra water and energy used in washing and drying the re-usable kind.