Beaches surveyed in the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) Great British Beach Clean last September showed Scotland's shores were covered with highest levels of bathroom waste - including cotton buds, condoms, tampons, nappies and, increasingly, wet wipes - of any of the home nations.

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A total of 14 per cent of litter on Scottish beaches was so-called sewage-related debris - "stuff people put down the toilet but shouldn't" - nearly double the 2013 figure of 7.4 per cent and more than two-and-a-half times the level on the beaches of the UK's next worst-affected nation, Wales.

Of the 14 per cent, some 34 per cent was wet wipes - more than treble the amount in 2013, the highest increase anywhere in the UK.

Campaigners say it is clear that more Scots are using the toilet as a watery dustbin.

MCS Scotland Programme Manager Calum Duncan said wipes, often described as flushable, were being put down the loo instead of thrown in the bin.

He said: "Our sewerage systems weren't built to cope with wet wipes. When flushed they don't disintegrate like toilet paper, and they typically contain plastic so once they reach the sea, they last for a very long time. They can cause blockages in our sewers, and then everything else that has been flushed down the loo can either back up into people's homes, or overflow into rivers and seas.

"Overflows also happen during excessive rainfall, or if the plumbing hasn't been connected up properly meaning the wrong pipes are heading straight to the sea. That's when we find sewage related debris, including wet wipes, on the beach."

The data showed sewage-related debris is higher in estuaries throughout the UK, including the Firth of Forth.

When non-bathroom waste is included in the figures, however, Scotland's beaches came out significantly cleaner than England's.

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Scotland's beaches littered with wet wipes