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A cafe chain which is known for its beachside locations is the first in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ to stop using kitchen plates.

Instead, Venus cafe has switched to using fully compostable plates made of areca palm.

The chain, which was founded in 1995 at Blackpool Sands, has five cafés, including one in ,

The move to the eco-friendly alternative not only provides funds to low income Indian families, but the areca palm, indigenous to India, is naturally environmental as it has already fallen from the tree and is not harvested.

Co-founder of the Venus Company, Michael Smith said: "We are really proud of being the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s first café chain to use these sustainable palm plates as an eco-friendly, sustainable alternative to crockery.

"They are multiuse and home compostable, even with food waste. This means it does not have to go through an industrial process with high heat, it will simply compost in a normal compost heap.

"We are completely dedicated to increasing the use of the most environmentally friendly products to protect our naturally beautiful setting and this is just one way in which we can do our bit to protect the wonderful environments in which we are lucky enough to live and work."

Michael continued: "The benefits of our palm plates are multi-fold. They will not need to be washed so we are saving on water and energy usage as well as chemicals.

"The whole thing is mainly about taking a more environmentally sustainable approach to catering – using plants and sustainable resources and reducing CO2 foot print. Many of our customers are on holiday when they visit us, so we’re ensuring they are responsible while visiting these beautiful beachside locations while enjoying some great food."

Venus is known for its admirable green credentials, having received numerous prestigious awards.

They were given the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development in April 2010 for the second time running.

The business does everything it can to encourage recycling and support clean-ups, including in how it heats, powers and cleans the cafés.

They also try to minimises road miles by supports local food producers.

While many local and global businesses have jumped on banishing plastic straws in the last couple of years, the Venus Company got rid of these from the business as an obvious ‘no brainer’ 19 years ago and stopped serving straws entirely 16 years ago.

Looking towards a green future, the Venus Company will also shortly be introducing home compostable hot drinks cups.

Venus was the first commercial café chain in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ to use a non-plastic lining but is now first in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ to replace the PLA (Polylactic Acid) linings with an innovative new liner which will compost at home.