A giant fatberg weighing 100 tons and measuring 328ft has been discovered festering in the sewers of east London.

The rancid mass of solidified fat, oil and grease was found beneath Whitechapel -near to where the infamous fatberg of 2017 formed.

The new fatberg has been dubbed the ‘grandchild’ of its predecessor eight years ago, which weighed a staggering 130 tons and stretched for 820ft through the sewers.

The 2017 fatberg was among the largest ever discovered in the city and a sample even went on display in the Museum of London. 

Thames Water has urged people to be careful about what they pour down their sinks and flush into the sewage system over Christmas.

Greater quantities of fats find their way into the sewers each year during the festive period, so the timing of the latest discovery presents a headache.

Tim Davies, head of waste operations for North London at Thames Water, said the extraction of the blockage could take ‘weeks to complete’.

He added: ‘This latest fatberg shows exactly what happens when fats, oils and wipes go down our drains – they don’t disappear, they build up and cause serious damage.

A huge fatberg has been discovered festering in the sewers beneath Whitechapel

It is a 100-ton congeal mass of fat and oil, along with material such as wet wipes

Part of a different fatberg discovered in Feltham in October after being removed

‘The cost of clearing blockages and repairing sewers runs into tens of millions of pounds every year, and that money ultimately comes from our customers.’

The company sees a seasonal rise in blockages during December and January, and says clearance costs reach £2.1 million over the two-month period.

It has urged people to scrape food scraps from any dirty dishes, ensure plugholes are fitted with a strainer and avoid pouring liquid foods down the sink, such as gravy or cream.

It comes after a new study revealed that wet wipes marketed as ‘biodegradable’ may linger in the environment for longer than expected.

According to the researchers at Cardiff University, most wipes persist for more than five weeks in water – even if they’ve been touted as eco–friendly.

Packaging and advertising on wet wipes often use words like ‘biodegradable’, ‘plant–based’ and ‘plastic free’ to suggest that it’s OK to flush them.

But doing so can cause blockages further down the sewer line, leading to mammoth ‘fat bergs’ that can take months for workers to remove.

Another disgusting fatberg of a similar mass, said to be the size of eight London buses, was removed from the sewers in Feltham in October.