A water company is cracking down on businesses pouring fat down the sink and blocking the county's sewers.

Southern Water will prosecute those it can prove are illegally tipping cooking oil down the plughole.

Restaurants and takeaways serving hot food are the worst culprits and responsible for about 80 per cent of the grease in sewers.

Southern Water has employed a team of fat detectives to catch businesses breaking the law.

It is considering printing advice leaflets in different languages to get the message across to foreign business owners.

A Southern Water spokeswoman said: "We have cautioned a large number of businesses with a view to prosecuting should they re-offend.

"We have not needed to prosecute as yet.

"We are in the process of updating our advice leaflets on the subject and are considering printing them in Urdu, Mandarin and Cantonese to ensure our message is communicated effectively to all relevant parties."

Figures were not available for the amount of cautions issued but the spokeswoman said it was a "significant number".

Thousands of litres of liquid fat, grease and cooking oil are poured down sinks every day.

It cools and hardens into a solid mass underground which stops waste water flowing through.

The sewage is then forced out of the pipes into gardens, streets and sometimes homes.

It causes bad smells, rat problems and can pollute rivers and streams.

There are 10,500 sewer blockages across the Southern Water region every year and fat is found in 75 per cent of them.

Walls of fat are cleared using jet sprays or sucked out, depending on how bad the problem is.

It is then put in skips and taken to licensed tips.

David Lepper, MP for Brighton Pavilion, has highlighted the issue in the past.

He backed an Early Day Motion in Parliament calling for "fat trap" devices to be fitted in all commercial hot food outlets.

Mr Lepper said: "I think it's good that Southern Water are doing something to try and solve this problem which causes so much disruption.

"It's particularly important in an area like Brighton and Hove which has more catering establishments for its size than any other city apart from London."

The most environmentally friendly way to dispose of unwanted fat is to mix it with seeds, nuts and raisins to make a 'cake' for birds.

Liquid fat can be left to solidify in an old tin or sturdy container, then wrapped in newspaper and thrown in the bin.

Don't forget to scrape or wipe plates and pans before washing up to remove food and grease.