Four suitcases dumped into the sewer in Wakefield caused wastewater to discharge into the river Calder via a combined sewer overflow.

Yorkshire Water’s customer field services attended Albion Mills and found a cover had been removed and four suitcases had been pushed into the network, causing wastewater to back up and be discharged via the overflow.

It took three hours to remove the items and return the sewer to normal flows due to the amount of wastewater that had backed up behind the blockage.

Miles Cameron, head of customer field services at Yorkshire Water, said: “This incident illustrates the impact people can have by using the sewer network at a dumping ground for unwanted items. We believe a cover was removed to allow these items to be disposed of into the sewer.

“Unfortunately, they caused a significant blockage within the network, which led to wastewater being discharged into the river Calder. Thankfully our teams responded quickly to alerts that indicated a problem with the overflows and were able to remove the items and return the network to full working order, stopping the discharge to the river.

“It is vital people do not use the sewer network as a way of getting rid of unwanted items. Foreign object cause blockages that can lead to wastewater escaping the network in properties and gardens, the local environment and watercourses, as happened here.