A fightback against the throwaway society has begun with a new movement to encourage people to repair and reuse.

A Repair Café will hold its first monthly session this weekend in St Margarets to help people give everything from a broken toaster to a games console or ripped dress a new life.

The idea of repairing and restoring items has captured the imagination through programmes such as The Repair Shop on the BBC.

However, the team of around 20 volunteer experts available at the Repair Café will be offering practical help and advice on everyday household items, rather than restoring antiques and precious heirlooms.

One of the six men who got together to lead the initiative, Colin Messenger, said there are around 2,000 of the Repair Cafes across Europe, but very few in the UK.

"It's a brilliant concept. Everyone gets the sustainability side of this; the saving money side and the sheer common sense of it," he said.

"We are not doing 200 year-old violins, but rather two year old vacuum cleaners."

The government is changing the law to require manufacturers to make products in a way that they can be repaired rather than automatically being thrown away, which Mr Messenger said is a step forward.

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But, Mr Messenger, aged 66, said: "It is also a step back in the sense that we are trying to help people return to what our grandparents did. They did not go out and buy new every week, they repaired and mended.

"Our repairers tend to people with a huge range of jobs and backgrounds. They all have a passion to solve the problem and get things fixed.

"I have been making things and repairing things all my life, it is just the way I was brought up. My dad did it, it was just the thing to do. As a 5-year-old I was making things and repairing things."

The 20 experts available on Saturday covering clothing and textiles, household and garden electrical products, bike repairs, ceramics, computers, games consoles, toys, and knitting.

There will be someone offering help and advice on sharpening tools and knives, an expert in woodwork and even a plant hospital.

"We have got people who can repair Nintendos alongside experts in invisible repairs on clothing," he said.

"We will try and fix items on the spot if we can. People will come in and sit with the repairer and they will be shown how to go about a fix so the next time they can do it themselves.

"We want to give people confidence to know that they can fix an item themselves, rather than just throwing it away."

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The service is free, but visitors can choose to make a donation to help with the running costs of the scheme and the purchase of equipment.

The café will open its doors at 10.30am St Margarets Church hall on Saturday through to 1pm. It will then return on the third Saturday of subsequent months.