The firm said they recognised their product did not meet Water UK's Fine to Flush specification developed by the Water Research Centre (WRC) but disagreed that this was the most useful measure of whether a wipe was flushable.

Only flushable wipes with the 'fine to flush' symbol are suitable to be flushed in the UK. Credit: Handout/PA However the ASA banned the ad after Andrex owner Kimberly-Clark admitted that the product did not meet Water UK's 'Fine to Flush' standards and relied on international industry flushability guidelines instead. If a wipe doesn’t have the official ‘Fine to Flush’ label we do not regard it as flushable, and it should go in the bin not the toilet. Water UK director of corporate affairs Rae Stewart said: "Water UK is very clear - wipes manufacturers should not label or sell products advertised as 'flushable' if they don't pass the official 'Fine to Flush' standard.The ASA stressed that it had made no judgment on the flushability of Andrex toilet wipes but had banned the ad for failing to make clear that the product did not conform to relevant UK standards. Steve Grebby, from the Consumer Council for Water, said: “Sewer flooding causes misery for thousands of households so we hope this marks a watershed moment in the wider battle to prevent consumers being misled over what items are safe to flush.

The introduction of this new standard for flushability in the UK, Fine to Flush, happened only this spring and while Andrex Washlets have not yet been tested against it, we are now working with Water UK to add this UK standard at the earliest possible time. We look forward to working with Kimberly-Clark as they seek to meet the ‘Fine to Flush’ standard for their products.”Andrex has been told to stop claiming their wet wipes are "flushable" after Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)say they do not meet tests for British sewers. In the absence of qualifying information to that effect, we concluded that the claim ‘flushable’ was misleading.”