WORKERS are set to return to a major city centre road tomorrow night to continue work on a sewer pipe blocked by a ‘fatberg’.

The A44 Sidbury Road, Worcester, was closed from December 21 to 24 while the blockage was removed, causing mayhem for last minute Christmas shoppers.

Severn Trent Water (STW) engineers will return to the road, a main artery into the city centre on Friday evening.

Two months on part of the pipe remains blocked, it has been revealed.

Worcestershire County Council’s highways department tweeted to say the overnight work is to “prevent ongoing problems using specialist equipment”.

However, officers have reassured motorists that, this time, the works will be night-time only.

A spokeswoman for Severn Trent said: “We’ll be returning to Sidbury to do some work on the ‘fatberg’ that was discovered in December.

“At the time, we managed to unblock the fat from the sewer enough to get it running again so service to customers isn’t affected.”

She said engineers will be “using special CCTV cameras to see exactly what is causing the remainder of the blockage”.

“Once we know what we’re dealing with we can work out a plan to resolve the issue.

She continued: “What makes this job more complicated than normal is the fact that the part of the pipe that’s blocked is under a canal, so we can’t just dig down, and that’s why it’s taking a while longer to get it all sorted.

“We’re really sorry for any inconvenience we cause and we’d like to remind people in the area that fat should not be washed down the sink as it can cause issues just like this.”

She went on to say that the work is, at this point, just expected to take place overnight on Friday, until "we know exactly what we’re dealing with we can work out and plan".

The Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) are currently investigating the disposal of fat, oil and grease (FOG) at city food outlets, in the hope of preventing further fatbergs.

A WRS spokesperson said: “If a café, restaurant or take-away is causing a build-up of FOG in the local drainage system, WRS has the power to require the installation of a fat trap.

“Most food outlets dispose of FOG they produce in a responsible manner, but following the incident in Sidbury, WRS officers will be looking into the procedures of food businesses in the area.”

The Sidbury fatberg was estimated to be between seven and 10 metres in length.