Dumbarton litter picker finds 1960s Golden Wonder packet

The Golden Wonder crisps were from pre-decimal currency and weight was marked in 'drams'.

An offer expired on April 30 1969 - two years before decimalisation was introduced in the UK.

The discovery was made by Zoe Weir, who goes litter-picking with her dog, Mackie, and said it was the oldest plastic she had found.

It boasts a "new speed sealed stay-fresh pack", while pre-1960s crisps were packaged in wax paper.

Zoe found it in the Clyde at Dumbarton on Monday (June 5) while litter-picking with Friends of Dumbarton Foreshore.

She said: "I could see it was old as soon as I bent down to pick it up, because of the price, which was 4D - pre-decimal money.

"On closer examination, the packet has a cutlery offer which expired on April 30th, 1969 - it's the oldest I've found.

"I knew I'd made a special find.

"Old plastics wash up onshore worryingly often, but this was the oldest crisp packet so far by about nine years.

It was the oldest bit of plastic litter Zoe has found (Image: SWMR)

"Tayto, who owns Golden Wonder, explain on their website that prior to the 1960s, crisps came in tins or waxed packets.

"I would be happier if we went back to that, and had clean rivers and happy wildlife.

"The company says it's moving to recyclable packets, but it's greenwash - most of them will never be recycled and will just keep adding to the pollution of our beautiful wild places.

"Now that we know how much damage plastic causes to wildlife and humans, it really is time to go back to old ways of packaging, without oil-based products."

The Golden Wonder crisps were from pre-decimal currency and weight was marked in 'drams'. (Image: SWMR)