Dog walkers are being warned to stay away from a popular beach in Wirral over fears for their pets' safety.

Lumps of congealed fat which are poisonous to pooches have been washing up at New Brighton .

Known as fatbergs, there are held together with other items people should not be flushing down the drains such as wet wipes, cotton buds and sanitary products.

Vet Hollie Jones, of Upton Veterinary Surgery, in Wirral, told our sister paper the Liverpool Echo dog owners to 'avoid the area'.

She said: “Fatbergs can prove fatal to dogs and can give them vomiting, diarrhoea and pancreatitis that can prove fatal.

“If there is a lot of them I would advise dog owners to avoid the area completely, because it can be dangerous even if they don’t eat it, but touch it and then lick themselves.”

A white substance which has washed up on New Brighton beach is called fatberg and it is highly dangerous to dogs

A picture of the fatbergs was posted on Facebook page Wallasey Gossip and had people scratching their heads as to what it was.

Taz Arke Dirania posted the picture and wrote “anyone any idea what this horrible looking stuff is?”

While some came up with guesses such as “jelly fish poo” and “sea foam”, others seemed to be more clued up on the substance.

A Wallasey resident wrote: “Looks like Palm oil Fatbergs. There was a spillage in Dublin some months ago. Dangerous to dogs.”

While another resident said: “If it is Palm there has been an alert on Anglesey as it has poisoned a few dogs, highly toxic to them.”

The waxy blobs appear to look like candle wax however dogs love the smell of the palm oil but eating it can poison and kill them.

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