TURKEYS, roast potatoes and pigs-in-blankets could cause misery to thousands of Severn Trent customers as Christmas cooks pour fats, oils and greases down the sink and toilet.

The water company spend millions of pounds each year sending teams of people down the sewers to clear out fat blockages, but this year they are asking households not to send it down the drain.

Scott Burgin, who has 20 years experience in dealing with sewer blockages, said there was a lot of extra fat to deal with at Christmas.

He said: “Festive cooking means that a lot of extra fat, oil and grease ends up clogging up our sewers, jamming up pumps, and wreaking havoc at our sewage treatment works. And on Christmas Day, our teams are at work, cleaning out blocked sewers to stop our customers from having sewer flooding ruining the big event.”

Most people assume that if the oils are washed down the sink with hot soapy water that they will not cause a problem, but not far down the pipe it cools and begins to harden and build up. The company is asking people wipe out any greasy pans with a bit of kitchen roll, and put it in the bin or to pour large amounts of left over cooking grease into a pot or jar with a lid, or into a fat traps.

“Having sewage flooding inside your home due to sewers being blocked is one of the most horrible things that can happen to you, and we don’t want our customers to suffer in this way, particularly at Christmas, as it’s entirely preventable,” Mr Burgin added.

Any problems with slow drains or blocked sewers which is Severn Trent’s responsibility, can be reported by visiting stwater.co.uk or by calling 0800 7834444.