Strangest things found in north west drains over the festive period

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’s engineers have found some weird and wonderful things in the drains and sewers of the North West, but here is a rundown of the top five strangest:

1. A huge pair of underpants found, Lancashire, having been flushed down the toilet in a rush. What a waste.

2. One fully operational set of false teeth. Found in a drainage pipe in Manchester. Funnily enough, the owner never got back in touch to reclaim them.

3. A full-size animal fox found blocking the networks in Cumbria, creepy.

4. A full-size car door that someone, somehow, managed to flush. It caused a lot of damage to the network in Cheshire.

5. A ladies’ thong found blocking one of the sewers in Merseyside. It caused so much damage that the sewer actually collapsed.The North West isn’t the only place in the country where this is an issue, with items including a dismantled greenhouse, a space hopper and even a hand grenade being found in the bowels of sewers in other areas. But although bizarre, none of these items come close to matching the pain in the drain caused by the thousands of wet wipes flushed down the loo or the greasy fats and oils poured down the sink.United Utilities’ engineers expect to clear around 28,000 blockages this year (2018) costing more than £10 million, 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. Theconsequences of blockages can be very unpleasant and nobody wants to wake up to the contents of their sewer in their home or garden.

The message from the water firm is: ‘Help us by ensuring that only toilet paper, pee and poo go down the loo. Put other items in the bin. It can save you money, protect your plumbing and drainage and help the environment. For more information on how to #whatnottoflush visit www.unitedutilities.com

A car door, false teeth, designer glasses, massive pair of underpants, a tiny thong, a hoody, a street sign and even a DEAD FOX: The bizarre items fished out of sewers in the north-west of England.

A full list of unusual blockages when engineers opened the sewers:

1. A street sign

2. A hard hat

3. Scaffolding poles

4. A set of false teeth

5. A massive pair of underpants

6. A tiny thong

7. A 3 meter long 6” pipe

8. Drain rods

9. A dead cat

10. A dead fox

11. A hoody

12. A car door

13. Ammunitions

14. Bags of money

15. Concrete dumped from building sites