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A 40-tonne fatberg the size of a double-decker bus has been cleared from a London sewer.

The mass, which weighed the same as three buses, was discovered earlier this year clogging up an underground sewer in Greenwich.

It took three weeks for Thames Water to clear the “disgusting” blockage using a combination of high-powered water jets to blast it loose and removing debris by hand.

Workers pulled out tonnes of fat, grease and other material as they battled the mound, which at points had taken up 80 per cent of the sewer’s capacity.

If left, the water company said it could have grown even bigger and caused problems in the waste network, including sewage backing up into homes and businesses.

Fatbergs are formed when fat, oil and grease - poured down sinks and drains - combine with items that should not be flushed down the toilet, such as unflushable wet wipes, nappies and cotton buds.

Matt Rimmer, Thames Water’s head of waste networks, said: “This was a massive and disgusting blockage that took a great deal of effort and teamwork to clear and get the sewer working well again.

“I’m happy that our team was able to get down and work hard to quickly to clear the fatberg before it could cause problems for our customers and the environment.

“We’d urge everyone to help fight the fatberg by only flushing the 3Ps, pee, poo and paper, as well as disposing of fat and oils in the bin, not the sink.”

The utility company has been visiting food establishments in Greenwich to make sure they are not putting fat, grease and oil down their sinks and that fat traps are installed and working.

Businesses that allow fat, grease and oil to get into sewers can face prosecution, fines of hundreds of thousands of pounds and may even be forced to close.

Thames Water spends £18 million every year clearing 75,000 blockages from its sewers in London and the Thames Valley.

In 2017 engineers cleared a giant 250-metre-long fatberg in Whitechapel. The mass was blocking a stretch of Victorian sewer more than twice the length of the football pitch at Wembley Stadium and weighed a staggering 130 tonnes.

An eight-strong crew worked nine hours a day, using high-powered jet hoses to break up the mass before sucking it out with tankers. The waste was then disposed of at a recycling site in Stratford.