South West Water's fatberg warning over festive cooking fats and oils

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 not to put cooking fats and oils down the sink this Christmas, after it removed a 50m (164ft) fatberg from a Plymouth sewer.

The build up of hardened fat, oil and wet wipes was discovered in December 2020 and removed in April 2021.

South West Water said a medium-sized turkey produced up to three quarters of a pint of fat and could block pipes.

It urged people to collect cooled fats and oils and empty them into a bin.

The company said if each of the almost one-million households across Devon and Cornwall poured their turkey fat down sinks it would mean the equivalent of more than 2,800 bathtubs full of fat entering the sewers.

Iain Vosper, South West Water's wastewater director, said: "Tens of thousands of litres of waste fat, cooking oil and grease are poured down sinks in the South West each year along with food waste which can build up in pipes.

"These mix with wrongly flushed items such as wet wipes, hygiene wipes, cleaning wipes, cleansing pads and sanitary products causing blocked sewers which can lead to flooding in your homes and in the environment.

South West Water said it deals with about 8,500 blocked sewers each year.

The company urged 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.