Darling will outline a plan to warn retailers they will have to reduce the number of plastic bags they hand out or be forced to charge customers for bags, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

"We will introduce legislation to impose a charge on single-use carrier bags if voluntary action is not seen," Darling is expected to tell members of Parliament Wednesday, a source told the British newspaper.

The Mail reported that an ICM poll indicated there is 86 percent support for charging for plastic bags, which are seen as damaging to the environment.

One retailer, Marks&Spencer, has already started charging for throwaway plastic bags, hoping to urge its customers to use reusable carriers instead.

Proponents of the plan say the average family uses about 800 plastic bags a year, which take up to 1,000 years to disintegrate.