The co-owner of a skincare company says he was inspired to encourage its customers to re-use packaging by the growing climate crisis.

Pure Lakes skincare, which is based in Staveley, has begun offering a refill service.

Gareth McKeever, who runs the company alongside wife Claire, said customers could now post used containers of the company's products back to be refilled.

He said its products were already sent out in biodegradable bubble wrap, using sugar based plastic bottles and re-using packaging as much as possible.

"We were so moved by the press reports back in November about the world warming despite it being quite a number of years after the Paris agreement," he said.

"We thought we had to try and do our tiny bit."

The refill option is available for all products across Pure Lakes four ranges.

Gareth said the scheme had seen a "gradual take up" since it was launched in January.

He said in time the company would like to develop a pouch customers could send back to be refilled, or encourage them to buy two containers of product so they could always have one on the go while another was being refilled.

"It's all about that circular economy and constantly re-using," he said.

He added that if the packaging began to look worn during repeated uses then this was something people would have to come to accept, much in the same way that "wonky" vegetables were now becoming more acceptable in the name of avoiding waste.

"We have to move away from the idea that everything has to be pristine," he said.

Gareth and Claire bought the company, which employs 11 people, from founders Iain and Sandra Blackburn in 2016.

It uses biodegradable ingredients in its products, which are sold to accommodation providers and retailers across the country, as well as direct to consumers via its website.

"Being sustainable is a big part of what we are about and we are constantly looking for ways to do it," said Gareth.