UKIP Euro MP for the South West and environment spokesman, Dr Julia Reid said today’s World Water Day was ’a perfect opportunity to inform everyone about the growing wet wipe problem’.

She said: ’Wet wipes are increasingly being used as an adult hygiene product, however instead of being disposed of properly in the bin, countless millions are being flushed down the toilet.

’Unbeknown to many, the improper disposable of wet wipes desecrates our beautiful coastlines and vastly contributes to the blockage of our sewer systems.’

A survey of UK beaches by the Marine Conservation Society in 2015 found almost 50 wet wipes per kilometre of coastline.