RESIDENTS of Malvern are being urged to be careful what they flush down the toilet after a sewage leak in the town.

Part of the A449 Worcester Road in Malvern Link had to be coned off on Tuesday evening because of a leak of raw sewage, with police warning motorists to drive carefully.

The highways authority and Severn Trent have been informed after sewage started leaking from a manhole cover between the roundabout with Townsend Way and the Goodson Road junction.

A Severn Trent spokesman said on Wednesday: "Yesterday our teams went out to clear a blockage from a sewer in Worcester Road.

"When the blockage was cleared, it was found to be a ball of rags, made up of things that shouldn’t be flushed down the toilet such as wipes.

"There has been some flooding from the blocked manhole which has made its way into the street and we’re really sorry this has happened.

"We were clearing this up yesterday and our teams are back on site today to make sure everything is properly clean and back to normal.

"We’re also arranging for a CCTV survey and full cleanse of 300m of sewers in this area to make sure there are no further issues.

“As we said, the blockage was made up of wipes and other things that shouldn’t be flushed into the sewers, so we’d like to take the opportunity to remind our customers of the 3Ps – the only things that should go down the toilet are pee, paper and poo.

"We currently clear around 50,000 blockages each year, of which three quarters are down to sewer misuse, and can lead to issues with blockages and flooding like this."