A thong, a fox and teeth all found in the sewer
WARNING AS 28,000 BLOCKAGES COSTING £10M ARE EXPECTED IN 2018
A DEAD fox, a tiny thong and a car door are just some of the bizarre items fished out of sewers in the north west.
A set of false teeth was found in a drainage pipe in Manchester while a large pair of knickers were flushed down the loo in Lancashire.
United Utilities released details about the strange discoveries in the region’s sewage system as a warning of the problems they can cause to the network.
A car door was found in a sewer in Cheshire – causing extensive damage to the pipes.
Engineers suspect the culprit opened up a manhole cover in a street and dumped the door down the drain.
A thong that was flushed down the toilet in Merseyside caused an entire sewer to collapse.
Other strange finds reported by engineers were a dead fox, a street sign and a three-metre long pipe.
Bags of money, ammunition and concrete were also found.
A spokesman for the water provider said: “United Utilities has issued a list of the strangest things found in the region’s drains as it reminds residents that only toilet paper, pee and poo should be flushed down the loo.”
The company expects to clear about 28,000 blockages this year, at a cost of more than £10m.
The spokesman added: “More than half of these will have been preventable and caused by items wrongly flushed or put down the drains.
“Around 1,000 homes and 6,000 gardens are affected by flooding each year across the north west.
“The consequences of blockages can be very unpleasant and nobody wants to wake up to the contents of their sewer in their home or garden.”
The company has a hashtag #whatnottoflush. For more information visit www.unitedutilities. com.