A DORSET-based nursery group, that has made its own baby wipes for years, has praised a government proposal to ban wet wipes containing plastic.

Tops Day Nurseries, a group with 11 nurseries in Dorset, have been making their own baby wipes for years after finding out that wipes available on the market all contained one-use plastic.

A Bill aimed at banning wet wipes containing plastic cleared its first hurdle in the House of Commons on November 2 after a Labour MP proposed the new law. This proposal is “about time” according to the Southbourne-based group and comes amid the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow.

Tops Day Nurseries managing director Cheryl Hadland said: “Our whole ethos at Tops is to be sustainable and we are always looking for ways to improve our practice in an environmentally friendly way.

“After introducing the glitter ban in 2017, stopping all one-use plastics that we could, throughout our nurseries, and becoming the first chain of day nurseries to achieve B Corp Accreditation in the UK, we are very happy to see more action towards saving our planet in the form of a proposal for a new law to ban the sale or manufacture of wet wipes that contain plastic.

“However, it is time manufacturers took more responsibility for their products rather than expecting consumers or governments to do it for them.”

A 2017 study by Water UK showed that 93 per cent of sewer pipe blockages in the UK were caused by baby wet wipes.

The eco-sustainable childcare provider also found several irritants and chemicals in the commercially bought baby wipes which aggravated delicate skin.

Tops Day Nurseries offers early education and care for children aged 3 months to school age, as well as before, after-school and holiday clubs for children up to 11. They have sites in Bearwood, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Charminster, Christchurch, Corfe Mullen, Gillingham, Parkstone, Poole, Wareham, Wimborne and Lymington.