A RACECOURSE has taken a big step towards reducing its plastic waste.

Brighton Racecourse has introduced a re-usable plastic cup at its events. The Save Our Seaside (SOS) cup will make its debut at the course’s first race of the season on Saturday.

Paul Ellison, executive director at Brighton Racecourse said: “We are proud to be one of the first racecourses in the country to introduce a re-usable cup at our events starting at our Mad Hatter Raceday. As a major event venue in Brighton, we are aware of how important the issue is to our city and we all have an important role to play in tackling it.

“We have a number of event fixtures this season and we hope that this move will spark others to do the same and get rid of the single-use plastic at other major events in Brighton and Hove.”

People using the cup will pay a £1 deposit when given the cup. They can reclaim this when they return the cup – or keep it “as a souvenir”.

Mita Patel, sustainability programme officer at Brighton and Hove City Council said: “It’s great to see a major event venue in Brighton actively making a change towards our common goal of reducing plastic waste across the city. Single-use plastic is an issue that needs to be urgently addressed. Brighton Racecourse are playing their part.”