A WOMAN was left bemused when a mountain of plastic packaging came with an online order - for two plastic windmills.

Elly Clough ordered the two multi-coloured plastic windmills from John Lewis and when they arrived on Thursday, in a three-and-a-half foot high box, there was enough packaging with them to almost cover the floor of one of the rooms in her home.

The Ramsdell resident was left bemused but also annoyed at the environmental impact of the sheer amount of non-recyclable material in the box.

The 79-year-old said: "I asked the deliveryman when it arrived if it was heavy and he said no - well, looking at what came out of it, of course it wasn't!

"If they had said we'll wait here and return the plastic after you have unpacked it, it would make sense. But what am I meant to do with all of this? It is not recyclable, I think.

"Particularly in this day and age with so much concern about the environmental impact of plastics in the news. It is ridiculous."

Other smaller items Mrs Clough ordered were dispatched in small boxes which could have fitted in the larger box and were delivered in the same order at the same time.

A John Lews spokeswoman said: "We always make every effort to use as little packaging as possible, however it is very important to ensure our products are safely delivered to our customers. For some items, we need to use additional protective packaging material to ensure it arrives in one piece.

"We do take seriously the issues related to the overuse of plastic and going forward, as a responsible retailer we plan to phase out avoidable plastic packaging.

"We are also working to find long-term and more sustainable solutions to the challenges associated with the use of different types of plastic and we are working with other retailers to push for more consistent recycling collections across the UK."