TOURISTS were given a fascinating – if somewhat smelly – tour of a sewage works in Didcot.

Thames Water led tours of the Didcot works on Saturday, giving visitors the rare opportunity to see the wide-ranging work that goes on behind the scenes to manage waste in the county.

The facility, in Basil Hill Road, treats waste water from around 37,000 people in and around the town.

It also served as an opportunity for the company to raise awareness of the havoc wreaked on the county’s sewage system by items that shouldn’t be flushed down the toilet

Fatbergs, for example, can easily clog up pipes and create issues for the network. A fatberg is a congealed lump in a sewer system formed by the combination of non-biodegradable solid matter such as wet wipes with grease or cooking fat.

The tour is the latest in a series of initiatives run by the water company to help people find out more about the site and the sewage treatment process.

Schools in the area are also frequently given the chance to visit and peer into the tanks below.

The sewage works is notable as being the first site in the UK to generate gas from human sewage.

When it was launched in 2010, the £2.5million project aimed to eventually supply enough gas to 200 homes.