A 'MERMAID' swimming the River Thames to raise awareness of single-use plastic has reached Oxford.

Lindsey Cole, 35, is travelling 200 miles from Lechlade, Gloucestershire, to Teddington, in South London, collecting plastic to show how we are polluting our waters.

Describing herself as an 'Urban Mermaid', Ms Cole set out on Friday and swam a stretch of the Thames in Oxfordshire today, reaching Port Meadow at approximately 4.30pm.

The adventurer is spending some of the swim wearing a mermaid's tail, while her support boat, manned by artist Barbara de Moubray, is carrying a giant mermaid sculpture made from plastic bottles.

Oxford Mail:

Ms Cole has run across Britain, cycled South Africa and walked part of Australia, but this is her first major swim.

She said: "I was sick from nerves on Thursday and couldn't eat for two days. The first two days were long and I had to walk bits."

During today's swim, she encountered a cow stuck in the water between Culham and Swinbrook and called firefighters to rescue the stricken animal.