‘FATBERGS’ have become such an immense menace that sewage chiefs are urging people not to throw wet wipes and household fats down their sinks and toilets.

The pipe blockers which cause drainage problems and burst sewers are fast becoming a major nuisance and expense as more families dispose of household items that do not degrade.

Last year, 46 homes in Slough were flooded with sewage from blockages, leading Thames Water to identify the town as a ‘fatberg’ hotspot.

Thames Water’s head of Sewer Networks, Matt Rimmer, said: “It’s not just fat that’s the problem, but wipes, often labelled ‘flushable’, are a massive issue too. They may disappear when you flush the toilet, but they don’t break down in the sewer pipes.”

Mr Rimmer added: “We’re lobbying manufacturers, government and retailers to correctly label the wipes as ‘unflushable’ and to change what they’re made from, but in the meantime we need everyone to put a bin in their bathroom and stop flushing them.”

A new awareness campaign, dubbed ‘Bin it – don’t block it’ is aimed at encouraging people to refrain from pouring fat down the sink or disposing of wet wipes in the toilet.

The campaign will be carried out through billboards, posters and postcards. A similar campaign in East London last year reduced the rate of blockages by 26 per cent.

‘Fatbergs’ are formed when fat and other materials that don’t dissolve are flushed away to combine in the sewer systems, congealing into a hard mass that quickly leads to blockages. Left uncleared, these cause raw sewage to back up into people’s homes.

Thames Water said it clears about four sewer blockages a week in Slough, many of them the result of ‘fatbergs’.

The company is also keen to dispel a number of myths surrounding good disposal practise of fat, including the belief that pouring washing-up liquid down the drain will prevent or remove blockages caused by fat.

It will urge residents to realise that nappies, condoms, tampons and cotton buds have a similar effect to wet wipes in the drains, and should always be binned – never flushed.