Scooters, child’s slide and traffic cone cause Hull sewer blockage

A blocked Hull sewer was caused by two scooters, a child’s slide, a traffic cone and other foreign objects that had been discarded into the network.

The unusual objects, thought to have been discarded into the sewer via a manhole, were found in the sewers in Bransholme. They had caused sewage to back up in the network and Yorkshire Water’s customer field services team spent six hours removing the items, clearing the wastewater backlog and returning the sewer to normal function.

Lee Pinder, regional operations manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “Our teams deal with unusual blockages daily. These are usually caused by people flushing or throwing away items that should not be in the sewer, such as the scooters and old children’s toys in this situation. We believe this was caused by someone lifting the manhole cover and throwing the items into the sewer before replacing it.

“Thankfully, in this instance our teams were able to respond quickly and remove the blockage before sewage backed up and caused pollution to the local environment. Blockages of this nature can lead to nearby customers being unable to flush their toilets, cause sewage to escape the network into properties and gardens, the local environment or nearby watercourses.

“We spend millions of pounds every year finding and removing blockages caused by foreign objects that should never be in the sewer. It is important people consider the impact these items can have, and it is vital people contact us as soon as possible if they are aware of items being discarded in the sewer network.

“All we want people to put into the network is the three Ps – pee, poo and toilet paper – any unwanted toys, scooters or other household items should be disposed of in bins or taken to recycling centres.”