Walliams battles E. coli and raw sewage in Thames swim

COMEDIAN David Walliams returned to the waters of the Thames this morning for day four of his charity swim from Gloucestershire to London, despite coming down with a serious bout of 'Thames tummy'.

Walliams began the 140-mile swim - which he is undertaking on behalf of the charity Sport Relief - on Monday and is scheduled to take eight days to complete the route. But a severe bout of diarrhoea, stomach cramps and a high temperature threaten to end the Little Britain star's journey prematurely.

The Thames contains harmful bacteria such as E. coli. Heavy rain over the last few days will have made the situation worse, causing sewage to pour into the river from populated areas.

Doctors have been monitoring the comedian's health constantly and yesterday he was forced to take rehydration salts because he could not keep any food down. This morning, he managed to eat some toast.

"This is already much harder than I thought it would be," said Walliams. "This 'Thames tummy' I've got is making the task seem incredibly difficult - London seems a long way away.

"I always knew there was a risk that taking in the water could cause problems, but now it's happened it's still hit me really hard."

Walliams has so far swum 52 miles in the first three days of his journey. Yesterday he reached Wallingford Bridge in Oxfordshire, having covered 14 miles for the day - four fewer than scheduled. His anxious wife, the model Lara Stone, was waiting for him on the river bank. ·