YORKSHIRE Water is urging customers in York not to flush wet wipes down their toilet after a blockage caused by a large mass of wet wipes.

The company’s blockage team removed four large buckets of wet wipes from the sewer network on the driveway of a property after customers reported problems.

Yorkshire Water has made a plea to customer in York, to ensure they are only flushing the three Ps – pee, poo and (toilet) paper. It said other items, such as wipes and sanitary products enter the sewage system like all other waste and can cause blockages in pipes and pumps.

The incident follows findings of a Yorkshire Water survey that found 21 per cent of people still flush wet wipes down their toilet, despite warnings on packets not to do so.

Mark Hammond, head of customer field services at Yorkshire Water, said: “Our teams work hard to ensure that everyone can dispose of waste and blockages can make this difficult. It’s important that people understand the impact flushing foreign objects, such as wet wipes, can have on the network.

“We’re asking customers to help us by only flushing pee, (toilet) paper or poo. Anything else should be disposed of in the bin to ensure the sewer network can continue to operate efficiently.”