A congealed lump of fat, sanitary napkins, wet wipes, condoms and nappies – known in the waste trade as a fatberg – caused closure of a major Fenland supermarket today.
Anglian Water confirmed the cause of the burst pipe in March this morning (December 6) was a fatberg in the sewer pipes.
The Tesco store on Hostmoor Avenue was evacuated this morning after a main water pipe burst outside the store.
A similar incident occurred in London this September, the fatberg was the size of 11 double decker buses, stretching the length of two football pitches.
The removal operation took a team armed with high-pressure jets and shovels around three weeks to complete.
Although the March fatberg is not to that scale, the grim breakdown task is still a disgusting job that nobody would want to do.
The fatberg was cleared at around 1:50pm this afternoon and the Tesco store is set to open again soon.
Anglian Water say the incident is a “good warning” that we shouldn’t be putting fats down the sink.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here