A water company has pleaded with householders not to flush exotic animals down the toilet after a piranha fish was discovered in a sewer in Chichester.

The flesh-eating creature was found by a startled member of staff at Southern Water who was carrying out checks at the West Sussex treatment works.

The South-American river predator, which normally hunt in packs, can rip flesh to shreds in a matter of seconds.

Although the newly discovered piranha was dead and posed no threat, having most likely been flushed away after dying naturally in its tank, water bosses said that only ‘p’s that should go down the toilet were ‘pee, poo and paper.’

Southern Water spokeswoman Nicola Crichton said: "Obviously someone who owns exotic animals must have flushed it down the toilet, I don't think it managed to migrate all this way.

"People will flush anything down their toilets, we once found a bed sheet at the waterworks, and find all sorts of strange things."