130 tonne ‘fatberg’ blocking sewer

A “monster” fatberg weighing more than ten double-decker buses is blocking a sewer under a street in east London.

The deposit, made up of wet wipes, nappies and hardened cooking fat, has clogged up a stretch of Victorian sewer under the busy Whitechap- el Road. Thames Water’s head of waste networks Matt Rimmer described the 130-tonne fatberg as a “total monster”.

“This fatberg is up there with the biggest we’ve ever seen,” he said.

“It’s a total monster and taking a lot of manpower and machinery to remove as it’s set hard. It’s basically like trying to break up concrete.”

The fatberg is 250 metres long.

Engineers began to break down the structure this week using high-powered jet hoses.