Christmas puts strain on the sewers

The festive season has also seen a number of Christmas trees float into the works, which are thought to have been discarded down manholes.

Other problems have stemmed from a steady flow of fat going into the sewage works, as a result of people discarding fat from their Christmas turkey and roast potatoes down the kitchen sink.

Rumesh Chauhan, who runs the Esholt sewage treatment works near Shipley, West Yorkshire, said: "People abuse their sewers thinking that someone else will always clean up their mess, but unfortunately it doesn't work like that.

"We're trying to highlight the problems that can occur as a result of people treating our sewers like a rubbish bin."

Each year Yorkshire Water clears more than 20,000 blockages from sewers, with half caused by people wrongly disposing of fat, oil and grease.