15-tonne 'fatberg' blocks London sewer

A 15-tonne lump of fat has blocked a London drain.

The chunk of grease - dubbed Britain's biggest ever "fatberg" - almost caused raw sewage to blast through the manhole covers in Kingston, Surrey, south east England, after the build up of rotten food and sanitary towels threatened to flood homes, streets and businesses.

The blockage, which is the size of a "double-decker bus", was discovered by residents after they were unable to flush their chains, but the damaged it has caused has ruined a number of sewage pipes and it will take authorities up to six weeks to repair.

Gordon Hailwood, waste contracts supervisor for Thames Water, said: "While we've removed greater volumes of fat from under central London in the past, we've never seen a single, congealed lump of lard this big clogging our sewers before.

"Given we've got the biggest sewers and this is the biggest fatberg we've encountered, we reckon it has to be the biggest such berg in British history."