Unusual items flushed down the drain, woman survives four days in trunk of own car

Plumbers publish list of unusual flushed items
By Christina Stokes
Source: Scottish Daily Record


False teeth, a dead hamster, and a tennis racket are among the bizarre items found in blocked drains last year.

Plumbers have published a list of the most unusual items they have discovered in pipes.

They include half a raw chicken, an Action Man doll, a fishing rod, and a Johnny Hates Jazz cassette.

A mobile phone and a bra were also pulled out of the drains.

On one call-out, engineers found a customer had flushed a suitcase full of clothes down the loo after a row.

Another customer lost his gnashers down the drain. After they were recovered, he gave them a quick rinse and popped them back into his mouth.

Dyno-Rod unblocked almost 25,000 drains in Scotland every in 2004 - that's one every two minutes.

Goldfish, porridge, paint, tea leaves, and soup are common culprits when it comes to blockages.

But cooking fat is by far the biggest problem.

Thanks to the Scots' love of fried food, thousands of tonnes of fat are swilled down the sewer network every year.

Andrew Sanderson, from Dyno-Rod, said: "Over 60 per cent of people eat fish and chips at least once a month - we're passionate about them. But when cooking fats or oils are poured down the sink, they solidify and are the primary reason for blockages."

The company have issued some tips to help householders avoid filling their drains with fats.

They say grease and cooking oil should be cooled and then scraped on to old newspaper and binned.

Alternatively, fat can be mixed with cooked rice, nuts, or seeds to create birdcakes during the winter months.

Dyno-Rod say anyone who does pour small amounts of oil and fat down the plughole should mix it with boiling water and detergent.

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Woman survives four days in the trunk of her car
Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA)

Sydney (DPA) - A 50-year-old Melbourne mother was recovering in hospital Sunday after spending four days locked in the trunk of her car.

Factory worker Maria Korp was reported missing after she failed to pick up her son from school on Wednesday.

She was found unconscious in the trunk by police, who were alerted by a security guard who thought the car might have been abandoned.

Detective Inspector Steve Francis would not speculate on what had happened until forensics had gone over the vehicle.

"It's bizarre," Francis told Australia's AAP news agency. "I think any time there's a person found in the boot of their own vehicle, you could call it bizarre."