South West Water's fatberg warning to avoid 'foul festive season'

A 50m (164ft) build up of hardened fat, oil and wet wipes - known as a fatberg - was found in a Plymouth sewer in December 2020

A water company is urging people to avoid a "foul festive season" and stop fats, oils and grease from going down the sink which could cause fatbergs.

South West Water said a medium-sized turkey produced up to 0.75 pints (430ml) of fat which could block pipes.

If the company's one million households each poured that fat down sinks, the equivalent of more than 2,800 bathtubs of fat would enter sewers, it said.

It said cooled fats should be collected in a container and then binned.

In Plymouth, a 50m (164ft) fatberg was found in a sewer in December 2020 and removed in April 2021.

South West Water said it dealt with about 8,500 blocked sewers each year and it hoped to remind customers "this Christmas to help avoid a foul festive season and fight off fatbergs".

'Tonnes of unflushables'

Fatbergs can consist of build-ups of hardened fat and oil after they are put down pipes and then cool, potentially blocking them.

They also often include other items that have gone into sewers, including wet wipes.

Alan Burrows, director of environmental liaison and culture at South West Water, told BBC Radio Cornwall: "We pull out in the region of about 450 tonnes of unflushables like wet wipes as well, so it's not small beer, as it were."

The company said it was urging people to scrape food scraps and fat off plates and into a bin or food waste recycling, and use a container to collect cooled fats, oils and grease from roasting trays and frying pans and then empty into a bin.

South West Water provides water and sewerage services to Devon and Cornwall, plus parts of Dorset and Somerset.