A toy car, dog bowl and traffic cone are just some of the strangest items found in Devon’s sewers, it has been revealed.

South West Water’s (SWW) sewer inspection teams have made public some of the most unexpected foreign objects they found in 2025.

Also among the bizarre finds were a trolley wheel, a hand brush, a football and even a tyre deep underground.

The items were spotted during routine inspections of pipes by SWW teams, with many detected using new AI-assisted analysis of CCTV footage.

While operators are used to dealing with everyday culprits such as wet wipes, fats, oils and greases blocking the sewers, these discoveries were harder to explain.

SWW has piloted the advanced AI technology to help teams spot unusual items. Traditionally, teams use specialised CCTV cameras lowered into pipes to record thousands of hours of footage, which technicians and office staff then manually reviewed to locate faults, structural issues, and blockages.

AI systems were trained to automatically highlight objects and anomalies in the footage, reducing manual effort and helping teams identify unusual finds and potential problems sooner.

Behind these strange discoveries is a serious message. Blockages caused by foreign objects can lead to wastewater flooding homes, gardens and roads, infrastructure damage and pollution of rivers and seas.

In 2025 SWW cleared 7,000 avoidable blockages from its network. Residents are asked to only flush the three P’s – and if it is not pee, poo or paper to bin or dispose of waste responsibly.

Andy Pettifer, SWW wastewater operations manager, said: “Finding a toy car or a football in a sewer might raise a few eyebrows, but it’s a serious issue that our teams are facing each year.

“Our sewers are designed for wastewater only, and anything else can cause blockages that affect homes, businesses and the environment.”