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(Image: SWMS)

Shocked Thames Water officials found only one in twenty of Oxford fast-food joints and restaurants dump cooking fat and oil properly.

This has led to the birth of two foul smelling fatbergs.

With a combined weight of 20 tonnes, these mammoth mountains of congealed fat are growing bigger and bigger under streets where thousands of camera-toting tourists wander daily.

Thames Valley water manager Sean Walden said the "staggering number" of takeaways and restaurants in Oxford need to up their game to avoid a sewer disaster.

(Image: THAMES WATER)

He said: "It's normal to see more fat in sewers around foot outlets, but Oxford city centre is a major hotspot.

"We are regularly clearing large build-ups from the pipes and commissioned the survey to better understand why some outlets aren't disposing of their used fat and oil properly."

Earlier this year one vast fatberg sparked a so-called "poo-nami" of raw sewage for the third time since 2003.

One victim from this vile catastrophe was a couple living in Walton Crescent in the heart of the historic university city.

(Image: GETTY)

Hoonise Feltham, 65, said "It was awful – we had raw sewage flooding into our basement and we have a room we often rent out down there.

"It's happened three times now since 2003 and I am at a loss as to what to do.

"We are at a very low point in terms of ground level but this is a city-wide problem and something needs to be done."

Hoonie and her husband Hugh Palmer are now urging the community, restaurants and Thames Water to do more after their basement, which houses an office and a bedroom with an en suite, was swamped again as waste bubbled up from the sewers.

It is feared their experience could be the tip of the fatberg, with a more crippling sewer blockage could be on the cards for the citizens of Oxford.

Inspectors visited 200 pubs, cafes, hotels and takeaways to find the cause of the vast underground build-ups of congealed fat in drains.

Establishments where food is cooked and sold to the public are legally required to use effective "grease traps" for the fats and oils.

(Image: PA)

An incredible 43% of managers and owners confessed they didn't even know what a grease trap was, while 80% admitted to not having one installed.

Mr Walden said: "The majority are keen to learn more about what they can do to help reduce fatbergs, which is really encouraging and our next steps are to explore how we can support them do the right thing."

Last year, a fatberg the size of a Boeing 747 was discovered beneath the streets of Shepherds Bush in West London, and a record-breaker in Kingston weighed 15 tonnes.