WEST Oxfordshire District Council is doing its bit to stop ‘fatbergs’ blocking sewers by collecting and recycling used cooking oil and fat.

The council is one of only a few local authorities to offer householders kerbside collections of oil to take it away for recycling.

If leftover cooking fat and oil is poured into sinks and drains it cools down in sewer pipes, solidifies and can create putrid fatty masses, known as fatbergs, which cause blockages and damage sewer systems.

In April, a fatberg caused part of a sewer to collapse in Oxford.

Thames Water, the company that runs the sewer network in Oxfordshire, has praised the council’s recycling initiative.

Lawrence Gosden, the company’s managing director of wholesale wastewater, said: “We fully support this initiative. This scheme is among the first in the Thames Water region and West Oxfordshire District Council should be rightly proud. This will help to keep the pipes running freely and save customers from the misery of sewer flooding.”

In West Oxfordshire there have been almost 1,500 ‘fatbergs’ in the past five years, resulting in more than 300 homes and gardens being flooded with sewage.

David Harvey, the council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “We’re delighted to hear that this will help to lessen the wider problem of ‘fatbergs’.

“However, the statistics on blockages show that more can be done and we would urge all residents to make use of this recycling service.

“It’s very simple – fat can be left to cool and, when hardened, scrape it into your food waste recycling bin. When cooled, leftover oil can be poured into a clear plastic bottle and put out next to your kerbside recycling boxes.”