The price of single-use plastic bags will double today as new laws come into force.
Convenience stores will be amongst those no longer exempt from the levy, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said, in the latest fight against plastic pollution.
New legislation will mean retailers of all sizes will have to charge a fee – which until now only applied to those with 250 employees or more.
The cost, which until now was just 5p, will double to 10p for every single-use carrier bag sold, reports The Mirror.
In 2014, 7.6 billion bags were given away to customers at England's seven largest supermarkets, the equivalent of 140 per member of the population.
However, since the tax was introduced in 2015, an estimated 15 billion bags have been taken out of circulation.
The average person in England now buys just four bags a year from the main supermarkets, compared with 140 in 2014, figures show.
Announcing the legislation last summer, environment secretary George Eustice said: "We have all seen the devastating impact plastic bags have on the oceans and on precious marine wildlife, which is why we are taking bold and ambitious action to tackle this issue head on.
"But we want to go further by extending this to all retailers so we can continue to cut unnecessary waste and build back greener."
Between 2017 and 2018 just over a billion bags were sold at major supermarkets across the UK.
Smaller retailers in England supply about 3.6 billion single-use bags annually.
By extending the charge to all retailers, campaigners hope to see bag usage cut significantly, with customers incentivised to use long-life bags made from more sustainable and environmentally-friendly materials.
Dr Laura Foster, head of clean seas at the Marine Conservation Society, said: "It's encouraging to see the Government take further steps in reducing our reliance on single-use plastic bags.
"Since the introduction of the 5p carrier bag charge we’ve seen a more than 60% drop in the number of plastic bags on the UK’s beaches."
In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, a minimum of 5p for plastic bags already applies across all retailers.
It was introduced first in Wales in 2011, then in Northern Ireland in 2013, before Scotland introduced the charge for all carrier bags in 2014. England rolled out its plastic bag charge on October 5, 2015.
