A sewer in Ripon became completely blocked by congealed fats after people disposed of the wrong waste down their sinks.

It meant sewage was no longer able to flow through the 450mm sewer in Skellgarth towards the wastewater treatment works, potentially causing serious problems.

It has now been cleared by Yorkshire Water, which is now urging people not to pour fats and oils down their sinks.

Lee Pinder, regional operations manager at Yorkshire Water, said:

“The disposal of fats and greases down sinks can result in significant blockages within the network.

“This ‘fatberg’ was completely blocking the flow of sewage to the treatment works, leading it to back up in the network, with the potential to cause sewage flooding for nearby homes, businesses and the local environment.

“While pouring fats and greases down the drain may seem harmless, we know from experience that the build ups caused by frequent disposal of these liquids can have significant consequences. The fats and oils congeal in the network and can grow as more unflushables, such as wet wipes, attach to it.

“Thankfully, our team was able to identify this particular blockage and remove it before it had an impact on our customers. We’d urge everyone to help fight fatbergs in our sewers by disposing of fat and oils in the bin, and by only flushing the 3Ps – pee, poo and (toilet) paper.”

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Yorkshire Water spent an hour jet washing more than 1,000 litres of water through a sewer in Grewelthorpe to remove a fatberg of wet wipes.

The underground blockage between Ripon and Masham prompted the water company to issue a plea today to only flush the three Ps — pee, poo and (toilet) paper — down the loo.

Wet wipes are the most common cause of blockages and can lead to flooding.

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Mark Hammond, head of customer field services at Yorkshire Water, said:

“We are regularly called out to remove blockages caused by wet wipes in our region. That’s despite our warnings and information on packets not to flush them.

“We spend millions of pounds every year on clearing these blockages. It’s money which could be spent on improving our network and investing in technologies.”

Yorkshire Water also revealed its blockages team removed four large buckets of wet wipes from its sewer network in York this month.

A recent survey by the company found 21% of people flushed wet wipes down the toilet.

The Oxford English Dictionary added the word ‘fatberg’ in 2015. It is defined as a large mass of solid waste in a sewage system made up of fat and personal hygiene products.