An east London hospital trust bought more than 11 million plastic cups in the past four years amid concern from environmental campaigners.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUHT), was found to be one of the biggest users of plastic cups in a study of NHS providers across England.

A study by the Press Association revealed BHRUHT purchased 11,018,125 cups since May 2014, more than any other hospital trust in north and east London in that time.

The trust runs King George Hospital in Goodmayes and Queen’s Hospital in Romford, as well as several clinics and other services across outer north east London.

The huge usage of single-use plastics by NHS foundations across the country has drawn criticism from several environmental organisations.

Several companies and government bodies have taken steps to cut their usage of plastics due to concerns over damage being caused to marine habitats by the material.

Louise Edge, senior oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: "We all know we're using far too much throwaway plastic, but these huge figures demonstrate just how out of control our relationship with single-use plastic has become.

"In the last five years the health service has used half a billion disposable cups - they can't all be captured and recycled, so it's time for the Government to step in and help suppliers find viable solutions."

Other big NHS offenders included University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, which has purchased more than 15 million plastic cups since 2013 and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which purchased 19,882,954.

The biggest single NHS buyer of disposable cups was Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in south London, which purchased 29,805,820 between 2013 and 2017.

BHRUHT director or estates, Tahir Ahmed, said: “As a large Trust with over 6,000 members of staff, serving a population of 750,000 people, we take our impact on the environment extremely seriously and are always exploring ways to improve our sustainability.

“Over 50 per cent of our waste is recycled and what cannot be recycled is turned into energy.

“Our hospital shops only offer paper bags, our Costa café offers a discount for customers with reusable cups and we have a green machine, which encourages staff, patients and visitors to recycle bottles and cans for rewards.

“To help our environment further we’re looking into alternative options, including replacing plastic with paper cups.”