Blue Planet 2 fans have vented anger and disbelief after receiving show-themed posters warning about the dangers of ocean plastic that were themselves covered in plastic packaging.

The “Oceans” poster, an accompaniment to the hugely popular nature documentary series, warns readers about the “fatal” effects of plastics and the “global challenge” it has triggered.

Jennifer Burgess, from Cambridgeshire, told The Independent she ordered the poster online for her seven-year-old daughter, Izzy, and was dismayed to find it delivered wrapped in clear plastic.

“It just made me roll my eyes. If there’s one thing you’d think would come in a paper envelope it would be that, given how heavily the Blue Planet series focused on the plastic problem,” she said.

In 2015, global plastic production exceeded 320 million metric tons, something the poster highlighted.

The poster and the plastic wrap it was sent in (Jennifer Burgess)

​By mid-century, if nothing is done to check its production it is estimated there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish.

Much of the growth comes from the increased use of plastic packaging, which now accounts for 40 per cent of non-fibre plastic, according to a study in the journal Science Advances.

David Smith, Ms Burgess’ father and a former science teacher, branded the move an “own goal” by the BBC and the Open University, which produced and distributed the poster.

“I think the BBC and Open University missed an opportunity to reinforce the main message that Sir David Attenborough and the programme producers wanted to get over to world audiences for this series,” he said.

Latte levy: The plastic problem inside your coffee cup

He added: “I wonder if he knows that the posters are being sent out in plastic envelopes?”

People who received the poster took to social media to express their frustration over its plastic packaging, including one user who branded the decision “unbelievable”.

Dr Chris Tuckett, a director at Marine Conservation Society, said although Blue Planet had done a “huge amount” to raise awareness, plastic use had “become so omnipresent we are using it as the default almost without noticing”.

Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Plastic waste across the world: in pictures A father and son on a makeshift boat made from styrofoam paddle through a garbage filled river as they collect plastic bottles that they can sell in junkshops in Manila. The father and son team earn some three US dollars a day retrieving recyclables from the river. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures A composite image of items found on the shore of the Thames Estuary in Rainham, Kent. Tons of plastic and other waste lines areas along the Thames Estuary shoreline, an important feeding ground for wading birds and other marine wildlife. Getty Images Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Children collect plastic water bottles among the garbage washed ashore at the Manila Bay. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, at current rates of pollution, there will likely be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Plastics and other detritus line the shore of the Thames Estuary. In December 2017 Britain joined the other 193 UN countries and signed up to a resolution to help eliminate marine litter and microplastics in the sea. It is estimated that about eight million metric tons of plastic find their way into the world's oceans every year. Once in the Ocean plastic can take hundreds of years to degrade, all the while breaking down into smaller and smaller 'microplastics,' which can be consumed by marine animals, and find their way into the human food chain. Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures A dump site in Manila in 2013. The Philippines financial capital banned disposable plastic shopping bags and styrofoam food containers, as part of escalating efforts across the nation's capital to curb rubbish that exacerbates deadly flooding. AFP/Getty Images Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Children swims in the sea full of garbage in North Jakarta, Indonesia. Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures An Indian woman holds a jar filled with Yamuna river water polluted with froth and toxic foam to be used for rituals at the river bank in New Delhi, India. The Yamuna River, like all other holy rivers in India, has been massively polluted for decades now. The river that originates in a glacier in the pristine and unpolluted Himalayas, and flows through Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh before merging with the Ganges River in Allahabad, once used to be the lifeline of the Indian capital. Currently, it is no more than a large, open sewer that is choking with industrial and domestic discharge that includes plastic, flowers and debris and has virtually no aquatic life. EPA Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Plastic waste is washed up on South Troon beach in Scotland. Recent reports by scientists have confirmed, plastics dumped in the world oceans are reaching a dangerous level with micro plastic particles now being found inside filter feeding animals and amongst sand grains on our beaches. Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Children collect plastic to be sold and recycled, in a polluted river in suburban Manila. The city's trash disposal agency traps solid waste floating down waterways that was thrown into the water by residents of slums along riverbanks upstream. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures View of the Carpayo Beach in La Punta, Callao, some 15 km of Lima. In 2013, the NGO VIDA labeled the Carpayo Beach as the most polluted in the country - 40 tons of trash on each 500m2. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Trash from Kamilo Beach in Hawaii. Gabriella Levine/Flickr Plastic waste across the world: in pictures A scavenger collects plastic cups for recycling in a river covered with rubbish near Pluit dam in Jakarta. Reuters Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Rubbish fills Omoa beach in Honduras. Floating masses of garbage offshore from some of the Caribbean's pristine beaches are testimony to a vast and growing problem of plastic pollution heedlessly dumped in our oceans, locals, activists and experts say. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures A man climbs down to a garbage filled river in Manila. Plastic rubbish will outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050 unless the world takes drastic action to recycle the material, a report warned in 2016. AFP/Getty Plastic waste across the world: in pictures Garbage on East Beach, Henderson Island (Pitcairn Islands), in the south Pacific Ocean. The uninhabited island has been found to have the world's highest density of waste plastic, with more than 3,500 additional pieces of litter washing ashore daily at just one of its beaches. EPA

Up to 12 million tons of plastic goes into the oceans every year, and it is estimated our seas now contain around 51 trillion microplastic particles – 500 times more than all the stars in our galaxy.

This pollution is harming more than 600 species worldwide amid what many now regard as the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth.

A spokesperson for The Open University told The Independent: “We use 100 per cent FSC-approved paper for our print offerings, and recyclable plastic envelopes for distribution.”