A French organisation which campaigns against anti-personnel landmines says that tens of thousands of mines could have been moved around Nicaragua by the recent floods.

The organisation, Handicap International, said maps show that many of the mines, which were laid during the country's 1980s civil war, werelocated near roads and river banks which have now been washed away by the floodwaters.

The agency is concerned that the mines will now be increasingly difficult to find and deactivate.