FIVE hundred cubic metres of leftover turkey fat is expected to be poured down British sinks this Christmas – the equivalent of two Olympic-sized swimming pools.

In a bid to save customers and their neighbours from ringing in the New Year with sewage flooding their homes and gardens, Thames Water is urging them to ‘Bin it – don’t block it’.

Thames Water is urging customers to dispose of leftover turkey and roast potato fat in the bin, not down the drain this Christmas, to avoid the misery of sewer flooding.

More than one third of UK residents pour leftover cooking fat and grease down sinks contributing to the 6.7m blockages in homes each year.

A spokeswoman for Thames Water said: “Instead of tipping it down the drain, customers can simply use containers such as leftover cranberry sauce jars, brandy butter tubs, or margarine pots as ‘fat traps’ in which to put cooled fat before throwing it in the bin.

“When fat reaches the cold sewer pipes it solidifies, clinging to wet wipes and other rubbish put down the drains, to form pipe-blocking fatbergs which prevent sewer pipes doing the job they were designed to do.

“The contents of toilets, showers and dishwashers can’t get past blockages, so they back up and start re-emerging through nearby toilets, sinks and drains. Sewer pipes are linked, so one person’s sewage could start backing up through their neighbour’s drains, and no one wants that as a Christmas present.”