Teletubbies, Paw Patrol, Batman and Spiderman all flushed down toilets in Lancashire - parents warned

Popular toys including Buzz Lightyear, Laa Laa from the Teletubbies and even Spiderman have all taken an unexpected trip in the North West - and had to be rescued by Andrew Bromley and David Cavill from United Utilities.

Andrew and David operate jet vac units – the giant flushing and suction machines that are used for everything from clearing out a blocked drain to emptying a giant underground tank. Over the years they have found all sorts of weird and wonderful things that have been flushed down the loo – and toys are amongst the most common.

Andrew said: “There’s a squad of us operating these units across the North West and the jobs we carry out range in size, some days it’s a blocked drain, the next day we could be deep underground cleaning out a tank that’s the size of a football pitch. No two days are the same.

18,000 blockages

“There were nearly 18 ,000 blockages on the sewer network last year and more than half were caused by products which had been flushed.  Blockages are usually caused by products such as wet wipes and cooking fats oils and grease - but over the years, we’ve discovered a wide selection of toys in the sewer system. I imagine it is young children dropping them down the loo without realising that they will be lost forever.”

As well as causing blockages in the sewer network, mis-flushed items can also cause blocked pipes and flooding in homes. Customers are reminded to only flush the 3Ps – pee, poo and paper down the loo. Tips and advice on n how to avoid blockages in toilets, pipes and drains can be found at: Stop the Block | United Utilities