Scooters and microwaves dumped in Leeds drainage gullies

Leeds' 146,000 gullies drain water from roads to prevent flooding

Kitchen appliances and children's toys are among the items fly-tipped into Leeds' drainage system, councillors were told.

Broken toasters, microwaves and scooters have been recovered by council staff from the city's gullies.

The channels at the side of roads drain rainwater off and are usually connected to the sewer system.

The city council said it was responsible for cleaning 146,000 gullies to prevent flooding.

Eleanor Jordan, an engineer from the local authority's highway maintenance team, told the committee meeting that "Gully pots are not rubbish bins".

"You'd be surprised what we pull out of the gullies. We've had toasters, scooters, children's toys and microwaves," she said.

"The effort to actually lift the grate must be greater than just putting it in a wheelie bin."

Ms Jordan said the UK's drainage system was struggling to function as a whole, with most of the infrastructure having been built in the Victorian era to serve far fewer houses.

But she added that unnecessary blockages were a frequent problem too.

"We as residents are filling our sewers with items that are not biodegradable. These form most of the blockages," Ms Jordan said.

"These are most notably fat, oil and baby wipes.

"I must stress these things should not be poured down sinks, tipped into gullies or flushed down toilets."

Yorkshire Water said plastic wet wipes were responsible for almost half of all sewer blockages last year

In January, Yorkshire Water said almost half the 25,000 sewer blockages in Yorkshire last year were caused by plastic wet wipes flushed down toilets.

The company recently staged an exhibition in Leeds of items recovered from the sewers, including boots and a frying pan.