SkyNews - Friday, June 22 05:28 amLoos in Britain are being treated as dustbins, with people flushing away much more than human waste and toilet roll, the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy has found.
Fast food boxes, chunks of metal and towelling nappies are just some of the inappropriate items unthinking Brits put down their lavs instead of disposing of them properly.
Over half of the people questioned by the charity confessed to flushing things they shouldn't, with women the worst culprits.
The study revealed that the most common, wrongly flushed, items in 2006 were female sanitary products, facial and cleansing wipes, food, cigarette stubs and cotton buds.
But other items including razor blades, incontinence pads, plastic cups, bandages, chunks of metal, cloth and lengths of rope also wash up in the nation's sewers.
Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, Alan Woods, said: "People wrongly believe that toilets are black holes which can swallow up anything they want to get rid of - but that is definitely not the case."
"We need to see a massive u-bend in behaviour and see people 'think before they flush'.
"The public need to develop responsible disposal habits and realise that toilets aren't a big dumping ground for whatever rubbish they fancy flushing."
The study found that over a third of Brits falsely believed the UK's sewage system was more robust than European counterparts.
But all loos are designed only to deal with human sewage and toilet tissue.
Any other items flushed down can easily lead to blockages and can cause flooding.
As well as generating costly plumbing bills for homeowners, wrongly-flushed items also generate offensive litter on the nation's beaches.
Fast food boxes, chunks of metal and towelling nappies are just some of the inappropriate items unthinking Brits put down their lavs instead of disposing of them properly.
Over half of the people questioned by the charity confessed to flushing things they shouldn't, with women the worst culprits.
The study revealed that the most common, wrongly flushed, items in 2006 were female sanitary products, facial and cleansing wipes, food, cigarette stubs and cotton buds.
But other items including razor blades, incontinence pads, plastic cups, bandages, chunks of metal, cloth and lengths of rope also wash up in the nation's sewers.
Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, Alan Woods, said: "People wrongly believe that toilets are black holes which can swallow up anything they want to get rid of - but that is definitely not the case."
"We need to see a massive u-bend in behaviour and see people 'think before they flush'.
"The public need to develop responsible disposal habits and realise that toilets aren't a big dumping ground for whatever rubbish they fancy flushing."
The study found that over a third of Brits falsely believed the UK's sewage system was more robust than European counterparts.
But all loos are designed only to deal with human sewage and toilet tissue.
Any other items flushed down can easily lead to blockages and can cause flooding.
As well as generating costly plumbing bills for homeowners, wrongly-flushed items also generate offensive litter on the nation's beaches.
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