Dr Sally Hope, a GP in Oxford and chair of the primary care gynaecology group, said that women with infections such as thrush were already recommended by doctors to eat yoghurt containing live bacteria, and in some cases to insert yoghurt into the vagina.

BBC: Bacteria may be added to tampons

The State of the Natural Environment Report claims native bird species such as the lesser spotted woodpecker, turtle dove and song thrush, as well as many butterfly species, have suffered.

BBC: Gloucestershire's countryside 'under threat'

Staphylococci and yeasts such as Candida albicans, which causes thrush, were also kept at bay.

BBC: Bacteria may be added to tampons