FAMILIES in South Gloucestershire are being urged not to cause turkey trouble over Christmas by avoiding pouring fat down the sink.

An estimated 68,000 turkeys will be cooked in the area, producing some 15,000 litres of fat.

If poured down the plughole, it can congeal in sewers once it has cooled down, leading to problems with blockages.

Wessex Water said there were around 100 blockages in sewers across South Gloucestershire last year, many of them caused by fat , as well as other items that were wrongly flushed down the toilet.

The company said householders should instead allow fat, oil and grease to cool in a separate container and dispose of the material in their food recycling caddy or their bin.

Matt Wheeldon, Wessex Water’s head of waste water strategy, said: “Pouring fat down the sink causes thousands of blocked drains in our region every year, leading to flooding and environmental pollution incidents.”

The company has also reminded restaurants and pubs to properly dispose of fat, especially over the busy festive period.

To get the message across, it has launched a video on YouTube to show how to dispose of fats, oils and greases appropriately.