CLOSE the door and save the planet is the message being delivered by campaigners to shops and businesses in Malvern.

Hannah Cooper, from Kempsey, near Worcester, and Roxane Loiseaux, from Malvern, have been visiting businesses in Malvern Link and using Twitter to highlight the national Close the Door campaign.

It follows a successful effort by Ms Cooper in Worcester which saw scores of independent and small chain stores pledging to keep their shop doors closed if they have the heating or air conditioning turned on.

Close the Door claims that by closing its doors, a shop can save up to 50 per cent in energy use or carbon emissions.

Ms Cooper, aged 31, said: "We have had a really lovely response to the campaign and lots of shops in Malvern Link have been backing it.

"After such a good response, the next stop will be to speak to people in Great Malvern.

"It has gone very well for the short time it has been running."

Ms Cooper got involved with the campaign after reading about it on micro-blogging site Twitter and visited Worcester city centre in November last year where she was "staggered" to find so many shop doors left open.

Bringing the campaign to Malvern, the pair have handing out leaflets as well as stickers for businesses who said they would be supporting Close the Door.

"Roxane got in touch with Close the Door after hearing about it on BBC Radio 4.

"We have been out together armed with stickers and leaflets and it has gone really well.

"It's been really positive and it really helps that we're able to say it has gone really well in Worcester."

Businesses backing Close the Door include Malvern Cycles CIC, Worcester Road.

Owner Tanya Trotman said: "I hadn't hear about it before but it absolutely makes sense.

"Our shop was built a long time ago and the heating is not brilliant and we have single glazed windows so it is very hard to heat.

"It is something we are going to be looking at but we'll start by closing the door.

"On the whole, even when we're shut, most people will try the door anyway so I don't think it will put people off by having it closed."

The bike shop is preparing to sell over a hundred second hand bicycles, a collection of new parts and a few nearly new electric bicycles on behalf of Hope Unlimited from Friday to Sunday (March 21 to 23).

Money raised will help support the work of Worcestershire-based Hope Unlimited, a social inclusion charity.

To find out more about Close the Door, e-mail worcester@closethedoor.org.uk, visit closethedoor.org.uk or follow the Twitter account @close_the_door.