Hundreds of millions of plastic bags are given away by London shops each year, with most of them ending up in landfill sites.

But a poll of London residents and organisations conducted over the past two months has found more than 90 per cent of respondents supported environmentally-friendly moves to ban the bags or impose a tax of up to 15 pence (about 40 Singapore cents) on each one given out.

The Guardian newspaper said yesterday that as the Treasury is thought to be unlikely to support such a tax, the council chiefs were expected to press for a ban at a meeting later in the day.

It quoted a London Councils spokesman as saying: 'The mood is definitely to do something.'

He admitted that the councils do not have the power to impose a ban by themselves and would rely on a Member of Parliament introducing a private Bill. But the chief executives' decision will carry a lot of weight.

The paper pointed out that the national ban on smoking in public followed a similar initiative by the councils three years ago.

And if the bag ban receives parliamentary backing, it could be in place within 18 months.

When it conducted the survey, London Councils said that - across the country - 13 billion plastic bags are handed out to shoppers each year, with each person receiving about 220.

At the same time, only around one in 200 is recycled, with billions being sent to landfill sites where they can take up to 400 years to break down.

It also said cutting the number of plastic bags being handed out by just a quarter could eliminate 58,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year - the equivalent of taking 18,000 cars off the road.

London Councils pointed to the experience in Ireland, where a 15-euro-cent (about 30 Singapore cents) levy introduced in 2002 has led to a 95 per cent reduction in plastic bag use.

Paris is also imposing a ban this year, which is set to be extended to cover the entire country in just over two years.

In the United States, San Francisco led the way by banning plastic shopping bags in March.