Kevin the Minion flushed down toilet blocks drain for neighborhood

By James Connolly

Workers investigating a mysterious blockage causing a stink for dozens of homes were stunned to find the 'despicable' culprit - a Kevin the Minion toy.

A team of engineers from Yorkshire Water was dispatched to investigate complaints of blocked toilets and an unpleasant pong in Sheffield.

When they investigated a manhole, they uncovered a number of toys - including a Kevin the Minion from the "Despicable Me" films, looking worse for wear.

Joe Sykes, wastewater regional operations manager at Yorkshire Water, said: "It's certainly an interesting job being on the Customer Field Service frontline team.

"We never quite know what we might find when investigating a blockage or a domestic pollution incident.

"Teams have discovered abandoned boots, suitcases, rubber ducks and now, Kevin the Minion."

Blockages can cause sewers and drains to back up and spill into homes and gardens.

But more than 40 percent of all blockages in Yorkshire can be traced back to the wrong items being washed down the sink or flushed down the toilet.

The damage, repairs and clean-up operation can be very costly across 20,000 miles of pipework in the region.

Joe added: "In this instance, not only was this a sad end to a much-loved toy, it's also not child's play to remove things from drains and sewers that shouldn't have been flushed down the toilet, thrown into manholes or poured down the sink in the first place.

"Anything other than the 3-P's (paper, pee and poo) such as wipes, cotton-buds, fats, oils and grease (FOGs) can cause really serious blockages, damage property, the environment and cost a lot of money to fix."

Yorkshire Water is offering tips and advice about making small changes to help the environment via unblocktober.org.