Wet wipes and rubbish equal to the weight of a Range Rover are being pulled out of sewers in every town and city each week by Severn Trent.

The water company, which covers most of Gloucestershire, said two and a half tons of items which should not be flushed are being pulled out in each of its locations every seven days.

Severn Trent's Gareth Mead said: "Wipes are one of the biggest problems we're dealing with at the moment.

"They're everywhere these days - baby wipes, floor wipes, face wipes - and people simply don't think before dropping them into the toilet.

"The problem is that unlike toilet paper, wipes don't break up or dissolve, so they easily get stuck in drains and sewers and cause blockages."

Over the last year, thousands of blockages were cleared across the region with around three quarters caused by people misusing the sewer system and flushing things like wipes.

"Many customers may not realise they are responsible for the waste pipe running away from their home up until it either crosses the property boundary or meets with another waste pipe or sewer," said Mr Mead.

"It doesn't take much to cause a blockage and unblocking or repairing this section of pipe can be costly, but it's completely avoidable if you're careful about what you put down your toilet and bin any unflushables.

"Our advice is to stick to flushing the three P's (pee, poo and toilet paper) and bin anything else."