EXTRA precautions are being taken at Great Yarmouth's Sealife Centre in preparation for the gassy side effects expected when its three resident sea turtles chow down on a special festive treat.

Green turtles Eddy, Ernie and Noah - who already have a bad boy reputation at the centre - will be served up sprouts over Christmas as a tasty alternative to their usual veggie diet.

But as well as packing a nutritious punch, the sprouts are expected to have some explosive consequences as the terrible trio will suffer the same unfortunate side effect from the traditional Christmas veg that many humans encounter.

'We're expecting lots of bubbles to be bursting from the surface of our ocean tank during Christmas week,' said senior aquarist Darren Gook.

And having previously experienced the gassy problems sprouts can cause, staff are now taking precautions to reduce any alarming consequences.

On one occasion the gas erupting from just a single sea turtle proved enough to trigger special sensors just above the high water mark, setting off alarms and sending an aquarist racing to investigate in the middle of the night.

Darren added: 'The sensors are there to give us ample warning if some error in the circulation causes the water level to rise too high, so we can react before it spills over the top.

'We have avoided this problem in the last couple of years by lowering the water level a couple of inches before we start adding sprouts to the turtles' feed.'

But with three flatulent inhabitants to deal with this year, staff are not taking any risks.

Darren said: 'This Christmas we're dropping the level a full six inches, just to be on the safe side.'