Southern Water’s singing sewermen have sunk to a new low to herald the festive holidays with a Christmas carol We Three Ps – performing it in a sewer.

A modern take on the traditional carol We Three Kings, the song encourages people to help avoid blockages by only flushing the Three Ps down their toilets – pee, poo and paper.

So far this year there have been more than 11,000 blockages on Southern Water’s sewer network caused by items such as wet wipes and sanitary products being flushed away instead of being put in a bin.

In Gillingham there were 283 blockages Southern Water workers had to deal with, in Rochester, 282 and 248 in Chatham.

Blockages can cause people’s homes and gardens to flood with wastewater.

Filmed deep underground in Brighton’s Victorian sewers, the song also warns of the perils of pouring cooking oils down sinks – which also leads to problems in the pipes.

The sewermen, who received the vocal support of members of the Southern Water choir, were joined by Bruce the sewer monster – Southern Water’s mascot for its Pain in the Drain campaign.

Video: The Southern Water sewermen's Christmas carol

Bruce, who was found at a wastewater pumping station after having apparently been stuffed down a drain, is proving popular on Twitter where he tweets wacky toilet tales and photos of weird loos and nasty blockages.

You can follow Bruce on Twitter – @MrBruceMonster.

Stuart Slark, one of the singing sewermen, said: “I’ve seen some strange things in these sewers but a choir singing with a fluffy orange monster, a woman wearing a dress made of wet wipes and a giant poo is definitely a first.

“To help keep weird stuff like this out of the sewers, only flush the Three Ps – pee, poo and paper – everything else should go in the bin.”