Southern Water prevented a potential spill of sewage into the River Test by removing a fatberg that was almost as a big as a shoe.

The utility company used artificial intelligence systems in Totton by implementing more than 24,000 radar sensors to constantly monitor sewer levels.

In Hawkers Close in Totton, maintenance workers spotted the issue and arrived before the sewer could flood, clearing out the nasty blockage of fat.

The Southern Water teams lifted up manholes in the area and found that they were all close to overflowing.

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Daniel McElhinney, proactive operations control manager at Southern Water, suggested that the "resulting mess" could have easily made its way "through streams, drains and culverts" to the River Test.

Sewage water was starting to climb manholes and almost overflowed.Sewage water was starting to climb manholes and almost overflowed. (Image: Southern Water) He said: “The sensors measure the level of sewage flowing under manholes in blockage hotspots, but the real innovation is how machine learning or artificial intelligence learns the normal behaviour sewers and can tell the difference between morning and evening rushes, rain in the system and a blockage forming."

The average suburban sewer is only the diameter of an orange of a tennis ball, according to Southern Water.

This means that it does not take much fat to combine with other unflushable objects like sanitary products or wet wipes to form a fatberg.