Wet wipe pollution 'changing the shape of British riverbeds'

More than 5,000 wet wipes found in an area next to the Thames the size of half a tennis court

Wet wipes are changing the shape of British riverbeds, campaigners said after finding more than 5,000 of them alongside the Thames in an area the size of half a tennis court.

Thames 21, a London environmental organisation that cleans up rivers and canals, retrieved 5,453 wet wipes during an operation last month in 116 sq m of the Thames embankment near Hammersmith. The haul was an increase of nearly a thousand over last year's total (which took place on a larger riverbank area).